Graham Sutherland & Dame Elisabeth Frink

These artworks are part of Ways of Seeing, a partnership between Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019 and the Government Art Collection. Ways of Seeing turns the borough into a gallery with 33 internationally renowned artists displayed in 28 unexpected locations.

Graham Sutherland

Honeybees are like people. They live in groups and work hard to collect food. Bees are small but play a huge role in our ecosystem. Without them, our planet would be very different.

In 1977, the artist Graham Sutherland made 12 prints called The Bees Portfolio. Four of them are displayed at Willow Brook Primary School.

In Bee and flower, a bee collects nectar from a red flower. 

Primitive hive I (skep) shows bees buzzing around a skep, an old-fashioned beehive. 

In Nuptial flight. The dispatch of a queen by post, a queen bee is inside a box. She is about to go on a journey. 

The man in Bee keeper looks nervously at the bees on his headgear. He is protected but trapped.  

Graham Sutherland was born in South London. He trained to be a railway engineer but then discovered that he wanted to be an artist. After going to art school, he became very successful. In 1954, he was asked to paint a portrait of the Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill hated the painting so much that his wife had it destroyed!

Dame Elizabeth Frink

Dame Elizabeth Frink was one of the most important British sculptors of the 20th century. She was fascinated by birds of prey. She grew up in the countryside, close to birds and animals. They inspired a lot of her art, from bronze sculptures to prints.  

Lammergeier shows a type of vulture that lives in the mountains of southern Europe, Africa and India. It is threatened with extinction. This huge bird has a wingspan of three metres. In Frink’s picture it sits on a rock, but are there two birds or just one? 

The Long-Eared Owl has its eyes fixed beadily on those looking back at it. Imagine the sound of its wings as it takes off, ready to catch its prey. 

Elisabeth Frink was born in Suffolk and studied art in Guildford and London. She had her first exhibition when she was still a student. She lived for a time in the mountains of France before returning to Britain. She made sculptures for St Paul’s Cathedral, London and Salisbury Cathedral. In 1982, the Queen awarded Frink the special honour of a damehood. 
 

The artwork on display in this venue is available to view on specific dates only. Please sign up to our newsletter or follow our social media channels to be the first to find out when you can view it. 

Tell us what the artworks make you think and feel using #wfculture19

Download an educational resource for this artwork

Schools can book to visit between 9.30-11.30am and 1.30-2.30pm any day.                    

Community/public can visit without booking from Monday 24 June - Friday 5 July 9.30-11.30am and 1.30pm -2.30pm