Sally Arnup (15 July 1930 – 22 December 2015) was an English sculptor known for her depictions of animals. Her studios were located at

Holtby Holtby is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 166. It lies close to the A166 about east of York. History The village is mentioned ...

, a village near York.

Biography

Arnup was born in London and began studying at the

Kingston School of Art The Kingston School of Art (KSA) is an art school in Kingston upon Thames, part of Kingston University London. It was first established in 1899 as the Kingston School of Science and Art. In 1930 it was established as a separate school and has b ...

at the age of thirteen. She later studied at

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

where she was taught by both

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

and

John Skeaping John Rattenbury Skeaping, RA (9 June 1901 – 5 March 1980) was an English sculptor and equine painter and sculptor. He designed animal figures for Wedgwood, and his life-size statue of Secretariat is exhibited at the National Museum of R ...

. In 1955 she won the

Royal Society of British Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors (RSS) is a British charity established in 1905, which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road in South Kensington, Lo ...

' Feodora Gleichen Award for women artists. From 1958 to 1972 Arnup was the Head of Sculpture at York College of Art. Her husband Mick Arnup also taught art at the college. Both Sally Arnup and her husband retired from teaching in 1974 to focus on their artistic careers.

Artworks

Arnup's speciality as an artist was for bronze animal sculptures, often created with the live animal present. Among Arnup's most notable commissions was a work for the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

’s 80th Birthday, depicting his Fell Pony ''Storm''. In 1971 she cast a silver leopard which was presented to

HM Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sover ...

by the City of York. A life-sized sculpture of an Irish Wolfhound by Arnup was posthumously donated to the

York Art Gallery York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. T ...

in 2017. She regularly exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in London, with the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

, with the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

and at the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

. In 1968 the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

hosted a solo exhibition of her work as did Gainsborough House in Suffolk during 1998. The Arnup Studio where both Sally and Mick Arnup worked, was opened to the public in 2011 as part of York Open Studios.

Death

In 2015 at the age of 85, Arnup suffered a stroke while modelling a horse for a large scale sculpture at stables near

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England; it is known for its racecourse and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological finds indicate there was a settlement in Thirsk aro ...

. She later died in

York Hospital York Hospital is a teaching hospital in York, England. It is managed by York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, an NHS foundation trust, NHS Foundation Trust which also runs several other hospitals in North Yorkshire and ...

from septicaemia.

Works in collections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnup, Sally 1930 births 2015 deaths 20th-century English sculptors 21st-century English sculptors 20th-century English women sculptors 21st-century English women sculptors Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts Alumni of Kingston University Alumni of the Royal College of Art Sculptors from London 20th-century British women sculptors 21st-century British women sculptors