Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A. (British, 1930-1993)
St John Bosco

painted concrete
Conceived in 1952

Dimensions: 127 cm. (50 in.) high

Commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church of St Bosco, Woodley, Sussex, in 1952
Sale; Gosport, 23 June 1981, lot 28, where purchased by
E.T. Cooper, Gosport, 1982, from whom purchased by
Mrs Bennett
With Archeus/Post-Modern, London, 1997, where purchased by the present owner

Exhibited:
Nottingham, Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, Elisabeth Frink: The Presence of Sculpture, 25 Nov 2025-28 Feb 2016

Literature:
Annette Ratuszniak (ed.), Elisabeth Frink, Catalogue Raisonné of Sculpture 1947-93, London, 2013, FCR7, p.44 (ill.b&w)
Exhibition Catalogue, Elisabeth Frink: The Presence of Sculpture, Nottingham, Djanogly Gallery, 2015, p.46 (ill.b&w)

The commission 'taught me a certain amount of discipline. I didn't like concrete as a finished material, it seemed lifeless' - Elisabeth Frink, on the St John Bosco Commission

In 1952, Elisabeth Frink received a commission from the Roman Catholic Church of St John Bosco in Woodley near Reading. She was still a student at Chelsea School of Art, 22 and it was notably the first public sculptural commission. The original sculpture was created of St John Bosco, with two children, but unfortunately one of the original figures was lost. It was fitting that Frink portrayed Sanit John Bosco, the Patron saint born in Sardina, with two children, given he was canonised as a pioneer in education for the poor and youth. The sculpture was constructed to stand outside the Church with the intension of helping Reading’s Polish community.

There is an element of mystery that surrounds the work, we know that it was originally constructed with three figures, and the third figure, a boy, is still missing. The provenance of the work is too intriguing, we know that it was commissioned in 1952, and it then appeared at an auction house in Gosport in 1981, but it is unclear what happened to it between the time it was viewed publicly outside the Church and its appearance in Gosport. Between 1982 and 1997 it was in an out of the hands of various members of the trade and private individuals until in 1997 when it made its way into the collection of a private collector being later discovered when the individual contact the Frink Estate. The piece was long believed to have been destroyed with the rebuilding of the Church in 1970. It was discovered 55 years later still intact.

The sculpture is not only significant in its historical prominence but the work is also an ode to the process of creation and execution by Frink and her development from an art student in the early 50s to the prolific artist and sculptor. This is truly demonstrated through her shift in materials. The concrete which she had used in the early 1950s, not only for St John Bosco, but also in her Harlow New Town concrete relief titled in Bird from 1953, was soon replaced by the mid-1950s.
Frink had turned decisively to plaster and clay which she then cast in bronze. This allowed rapid movement, physical moulding, a sense of immediacy and texture which concrete clearly limed. The work marks a start in Frink’s relationship with religion and spirituality and documents continuity and change in her work throughout her long working career.

St John Bosco, is an early example of religious themes featured in Frink’s work, with later examples including her Walking Madonna (1981) at Sailsbury Cathedral and Risen Christ (1993), at Liverpool Cathedral. St John Bosco demonstrates a true post-war realism whilst later examples reveal her stylistic establishment. Walking Madonna in both subject matter and materiality display Frink’s portrayal of the Mother of Christ walking and thus her ability to perfectly capture movement. The work is anything but static and thus Frink challenges the notion of monumentality.

St John Bosco, marks a significant step for Frink from art student to public artist, and documents the importance of site specificity and public art to her oeuvre. The work marks a rare opportunity to acquire the artist’s first commission.