Sheila Mary Mitchell
Born 24 November 1926
Died 8 May 2006
Active: 1945 - 1984
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor
Born in Farnham, Surrey. She exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1945, aged 18, before beginning her formal studies at the Farnham School of Art, under Charles Vyse. Moving on to the Guildford School of Art, Mitchell studied for a year under Willi Soukop before she was accepted for the Royal College of Art (1948-51) where she studied under John Skeaping, Frank Dobson and Edward Folkard.
A fellow student at both Farnham and the RCA was the painter Charles Bone, they married in 1951. From 1964 she was closely associated with the Society of Portrait Sculptors, exhibiting with them almost every year until 1984. From 1978 she was president of the Society of Portrait Sculptors.
She received numerous commissions for portrait sculptures as well as pursuing an interest in the theme of mother and child.
Locations
Address Lynch End Lynch Road Farnham | View on map
1945 (Circa)
Later addresses include: Newnham House, West Street, Farnham (1948-9) and Winters Farm, Puttenham, Guidlford (1952-66) [Royal Academy Exhibitors p. 166]
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1945 - 1966
Exhibited 8 times (3 times before 1951 and 5 times afterwards), usually one work (statuettes in terracotta or stone).
Institutional and Business Connections
Studied at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
July 1951
Listed as a 'Second Class' graduate from the School of Sculpture in the College's 1951 'Convocation' list.
Sources
Royal College of Art, Convocation, 12 July 1951
July 1951
Unpaged.
The Independent
2004
Peter Cannon-Brookes, 'Sheila Mitchell: Leading sculptor in the figurative tradition', The Independent 17 May 2006 [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sheila-mitchell-478497.html accessed 25 July 2010]
Citing this record
'Sheila Mary Mitchell', 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=msib4_1245073494, accessed 24 Sep 2020]
