Henry Charles Fehr
Born 4 November 1867
Died 13 May 1940
Active: 1888 - 1937
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor
Born in Forest Hill, Kent. He was the son of a Swiss merchant who settled in England. Henry was educated at the City of London School and then the Royal Academy Schools where he won several awards, including the Armitage Scholarship. Amongst his more substantial commissions were: the dragon carved over the main door and figures of the four Winds at the angles of the clock tower on Cardiff City Hall; statues and bas-reliefs on the courthouse of Middlesex Guildhall, Westminster (opposite the Houses of Parliament); the Queen Victoria Memorial, Hull; statues of John Hampden and Lord Beaconsfield at Aylesbury; and war memorials at Burton-on Trent, Eastbourne, Colchester, Portsmouth, Langholm, Lockerbie, Lisburn, Keighley and Leeds. He also carried out several memorial busts, including William Morris, Passmore Edwards and William Ewart Gladstone. However, Fehr's most prominent work is the large bronze group 'Perseus and Andromeda' (1893) on the east balcony of Tate Britain which was purchased by the Trustees of the Chantrey bequest for £1,200 in 1894. His obituary in 'The Times' described him as a decorative sculptor with a taste for the 'florid and theatrical'. He died in London.
There is a website created by Michelle Ault which includes a number of details and images of Fehr's work: http://www.henryfehr.com (accessed 22 February 2012)
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Model for Statue of John Harrison, Esq., for City Square, Leeds
The Spirit of the Waves
1903 (Presumed)
Cast Welsh Dragon
1904 (Circa)
Echo
1907 (Presumed)
Locations
Address Shrublands Leytonstone England | View on map
1887 (Circa) - 1893 (Circa)
This was his parents house
Studio located at 8 The Avenue Studios 76 Fulham Road London England | View on map
1894 (Circa) - 1904 (Circa)
Studio located at 6 The Avenue, 76 Fulham Road London England | View on map
1900 (Circa) - 1937 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Seventy-Seventh Autumn Exhibition at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists), 1903
'The Spirit of the Waves '
Exhibited at The Eighty-First Autumn Exhibition at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists), 1907-1908
'Echo'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1895
'Amphitrite'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1900
'Favourites'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1901
'Model for Statue of John Harrison, Esq., for City Square, Leeds'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Arts & Crafts Exhibition, 1904
'Grief'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twelfth Autumn Exhibition, 1894
'Morning'
Exhibited at Laing Art Gallery, Special Inaugural Exhibition of Pictures by British and Foreign Artists, 1904
'Portrait Statue: Pets'
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1887 - 1937
Exhibited 30 times, between 1 and 4 works up to 1904 and then usually one per year thereafter.
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the nineteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1889
1889
Ossian (cat. no. 1543, in plaster £10, in bronze £36).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-third (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1893
1893
Morning (cat. no. 1167, statuette, not for sale); Favourites (cat. no. 1184, statue, illustrated on p. 118, £300).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fourth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1894
1894
Amphitrite (cat. no. 1308, bronzed plaster statuette, £100).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fifth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1895
1895
Meditation (cat. no. 1252, bust, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1896
1896
Frank Fehr (cat. no. 1182, bust, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1897
1897
Invocation to the Goddess of Love (cat. no. 1293, statue, illustrated on p. 112, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1898
1898
The Battle of Wakefield (cat. no. 1459, portion of frieze, not for sale); St George and the Rescued Maiden (cat. no. 1478, not for sale).
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Glasgow, 1901
1901
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the thirty-first (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1901
1901
Pets (cat. no. 1523, plaster statuette, not for sale).
Exhibited at Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings of the British School 1878-1903, and Sculpture (Nottingham Castle Museum), 1903
1903
Fehr exhibited four sculptures (all were undated).
Won prize Landseer Scholarships (Royal Academy of Arts), 1884-1950
1889
Institutional and Business Connections
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1940
Died in 1940.
Member of Art Workers Guild
May 1896 - 1902
Resigned 1902.
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1904 - 1940
Amongst those 'Invited to join without the formality of proposal and seconding' [January 10 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]. Died in 1940.
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
29 December 1921 - 1923
Studied at Royal Academy Schools
1886 (Presumed) - 1889 (Presumed)
Awarded a £10 prize for a model of a statue or group in 1886. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1886', (1887), p. 34. Fehr also won a first prize of £50 for a set of three models of a figure from the life, and a first silver medal of a model of a figure from the life, in 1888. See 'Annual Report, 1888', (1889), p. 30. In 1889, he also won a first prize of £30 for a model of a design, and a Landseer Scholarship for sculpture. See 'Annual Report, 1889', (1890), pp. 36-37.
Unsuccessful in ballot for election to Royal Academy of Arts
Despite nominations in 1893 and 1920.
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to Thomas Brock
See Stocker (2004)
Assistant was Carlo Magnoni
1921 (Circa)
Magnoni assisted Fehr on the Leeds war memorial by cutting the marble plinth.
Nominated by Alfred Gilbert
9 December 1893
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Reginald Theodore Blomfield
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Francis Bernard Dicksee
27 February 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frederick William Pomeroy
January 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frank Short
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Henry Scott Tuke
1 March 1920
For RA; unsuccessful.
Seconded by Thomas Brock
9 December 1893
For RA; unsuccessful.
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors The London Directory, 1930 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1354
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Artist Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Artist (Painter)' latter word crossed out and replaced with 'Sculp'
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
p.5, p.22.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth, 1898 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1898
pp. 45-48.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fifth, 1895 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1895
pp. 47-50.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fourth, 1894 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1894
pp. 49-52.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh, 1897 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1897
pp. 44-47.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth, 1896 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1896
pp. 45-48.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-third, 1893 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1893
pp. 42-45.
Catalogue of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition 1904
1904
Cat. Nos. 1221, 1289, pp. 73, 78, 128
Catalogue of the Special Inaugural Exhibition of Pictures by British and Foreign Artists, 1904
1904
pp. 126, 127
Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings of the British School, 1873-1903, and Sculpture, 1903
1903
p. 75, p. 77 and p. 86.
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1895
1895
Cat. Nos. 630, 632, pp. 54, 103
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1900
1900
Cat. No. 188, pp. 26, 74
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1901
1901
Cat. No. 434, p. 42
Catalogue of the Twelfth Autumn Exhibition, 1894
1894
Cat. Nos. 612, pp. 53, 59
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 1347; Folio 29; Page 5; GSU roll: 6096457
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 59; Folio: 149; Page: 19
International Exhibition Glasgow, 1901,
Official Catalogue of the Fine Art Section
1901
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1866-1906
1906
See entries for 1893.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.136.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.53.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of Council and Accounts For the Year ending 21 December 1922. To be Presented at the Eighteenth Ordinary General Meeting, 1923
26 February 1923
p. 1
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
10 January 1905
Superb Buildings erected by E. Turner and Sons, Ltd, Builders and Contractors, Penarth Road, Cardiff
April 1929
p.13
The London Directory, 1930 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1930
p. 1354
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Wednesday, May 15, 1940; pg. 2; Issue 48616; col F Obituaries; Category: Obituaries (accessed 22 March 2010)
Citing this record
'Henry Charles Fehr', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1207246300, accessed 28 Sep 2023]
