User:MrDavies/sandbox/Helaine Blumenfeld

Helaine Blumenfeld OBE (born 1942) is an American sculptress. She lives in the United Kingdom and works there and in Pietrasanta, in Tuscany in central Italy. She created large scale sculptures in marble and bronze many of which are executed by the the artisans of Pietrsanta.

Blumenfeld has created over 50 large-scale commissions for the public and private sector. Examples of her work by are in the collections of Clare College, Cambridge, the Salisbury Cathedral, the Courtauld Gallery, the Smithsonian and the Tate, and two large-scale works in marble are installed in Hyde Park, in central London.

The Guardian newspaper has stated that, "Blumenfeld is one of the most respected sculptors of her generation, regarded by some as the heir to Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth."

Early life
Blumenfeld completed a PhD in in moral philosophy at Columbia University in 1964, and then went to Paris to study art under Ossip Zadkine. She studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

Career
In 1966, Blumenfeld had her first exhibition, showing a group of polished bronzes at the Palais Pálffy in Vienna. This was soon followed by two exhibitions of her work in New York, firstly at the Chapman Gallery in 1969 and secondly at the Bonino Gallery, in 1971.

Her first retrospective at the Bonino Gallery was in 1976 and was followed by exhibitions at the Alex Rosenberg Gallery in the 1980s, including, in 1985, A British Dialogue: From Perry Green to Cambridge, a presentation of her work with those of Henry Moore.

Blumenfeld continued to show her work in solo and group exhibitions in London, Pietrasanta and Norway throughout the 1990s. Notable solo exhibitions during this period include Het Depot [Holland 2007], The Town Hall [Oslo 2010], Helaine Blumenfeld in Pietrasanta [2011], and Messenger of the Spirit at Salisbury Cathedral [2013].

In 2004, Blumenfeld was elected as vice president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, and served until 2009. She was a member of the Arts Advisory Panel of the Arts Council of Great Britain between 1981 and 1988. In September, 2016, she unveiled her artwork Fortuna, named after the Roman goddess of fortune.

In January 2018, Blumenfeld donated a sculpture entitled Tree of Life: Encounter to The Woolf Institute.

Collections
Her sculptures has been featured in many public and private collections around the world, including Het Depot, Salisbury Cathedral and Clare College, Cambridge. A piece of sculptural jewellery acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Figurative Landscape
Figurative Landscape is her first major public commission. The 5-part Norwegian granite sculpture was installed in The Henry Reuss Federal Plaza in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1983. The aim of the project was to revitalize and humanize the new downtown redevelopment area, whose centre was the Reuss Building and Plaza.

Spirit of Life
Spirit of Life is a sculpture sited in 2005 in a small park on the grounds of a hospital for terminally ill cancer patients in Newport News, Virginia, USA. The goal of the project was to give people a place of respite and spiritual peace.

Fortuna
Fortuna at 5 metres high is Blumenfeld's tallest sculpture to date. It was installed in Jubilee Park at Canary Wharf, London in 2016. The patinated bronze is inspired by the eponymous Roman goddess of destiny and evokes the fullness and complexity of the human condition.

Tree of Life: Encounter
Tree of Life: Encounter was commissioned for the Woolf Institute's new purpose-built headquarters on the site of Westminster College, Cambridge. The sculpture was inspired by the aims of the Woolf Institute to bring about understanding between Jews, Christians and Muslims in order to reduce intolerance.

Exhibitions

 * 2018: Solo exhibition, ‘Tree of Life’ at Ely Cathedral
 * 2017: Participant, ‘Carrara to Hui’an, Hui’an, China
 * 2016: Solo exhibition, ‘Hard Beauty’ at Hignell Gallery
 * 2015: ‘Helaine Blumenfeld / Henry Moore: A Dialogue 1985-2015’ at Bowman Sculpture
 * 2014: Participant, Crucible 2, Gloucester Cathedral
 * 2014: Solo exhibition, Lichfield Cathedral
 * 2014: Masterpiece Art Fair with Bowman Sculpture
 * 2014: Co-curator and Participant Sculpture in the Garden: The Visionary Landscape of Professor Sir Robert Burgess, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, University of Leicester
 * 2013: Solo exhibition, ‘Messenger of the Spirit’, Salisbury Cathedral
 * 2012: Participant, 3rd Sculpture Promenade, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
 * 2012: Helaine Blumenfeld, Robert Bowman Gallery, London
 * 2011: Sculpture in the Garden, 10th Anniversary, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, University of Leicester
 * 2011: Helaine Blumenfeld Pietrasanta.
 * 2010: Sculpture at Woburn, Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire
 * 2010: Taking Risks, Robert Bowman Gallery, London
 * 2010: Shanghai Art Fair with Robert Bowman Modern
 * 2010: Cambridge Art Fair, Chilford Hall, Linton, UK
 * 2010 The Heart Head and Hands, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, Leicester University
 * 2010 Masterpiece Art Fair with Robert Bowman Modern.
 * 2010 Crucible Exhibition, Gloucester Cathedral, with Gallery Pangolin.
 * 2010 Participant, Scultura in Valigia, Insa Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.
 * 2010 Blumenfeld in the Oslo Town Hall, Town Hall Oslo with Anfinsen Kunst.
 * 2009 Exhibited at London Art Fair with Robert Bowman Modern.
 * 2009 Breaking the Surface, Arts Club, Dover Street, London.
 * 2009 Participated in 2009 Interart Exhibition, Heeswijk-Dinther, The Netherlands.
 * 2009 Participant, Scultura in Valigia, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama, USA.
 * 2008 Exhibited at London Art Fair with Robert Bowman Modern.
 * 2008 The Space Within, Royal British Society of Sculptors, London.
 * 2008 Solstrand, Honefoss, Norway with Anfinsen Kunst.
 * 2008 Letting Go, Robert Bowman Modern, London.
 * 2007 Helaine Blumenfeld: Visionary Landscapes, Sala delle Grasce, Pietrasanta, Italy.
 * 2007 Het Depot Sculpture Gallery, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
 * 2007 Curator and participant, Masters and Emerging Sculptors from Studio Sem, Pietrasanta, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, Leicester University.
 * 2006 Blumenfeld: In the Garden, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London.
 * 2006 Curator and Participant, Sculpture in the Garden, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, University of Leicester.
 * 2006 Transcendence, Robert Bowman Modern, London.
 * 2005 Exhibited at Olympia with Robert Bowman Gallery.
 * 2005 Moore Inspired, Sidney Cooper Gallery, University College, Canterbury.
 * 2004 Metaphor and Transformation, Galleri Roenland, Norway.
 * 2004 Intimacy: New Sculptures in Marble, SG Gallery, London.
 * 2003 Helaine Blumenfeld, Albemarble Gallery, London.
 * 2003 Curator and participant, Sculpture from Pietrasanta, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, Leicester University.
 * 2003 Donna Scultura, Chiostro di Sant' Agostino, Pietrasanta, Italy.
 * 2003 Light Vision and Transformation, Royal British Society of Sculptors, London.
 * 2002 New Sculptures: Transformation, Galeria d’Arte La Subbia, Pietrasanta, Italy.
 * 2002 Curator and participant, Sculpture in the Garden, Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, Leicester University.
 * 2002 Het Depot Sculpture Gallery, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
 * 2001 Broughton Gallery, Cambridge, UK.
 * 2001 Royal British Society of Sculptors: Summer Show, London.
 * 2001 A Retrospective, Wimpole Hall, the National Trust, Cambridge, UK.
 * 2001 Galleri Roenland, Oslo, Norway.
 * 2000 Galleri Roenland, Oslo, Norway.
 * 2000 Royal British Society of Sculptors Show, London. Elected Fellow of Royal British Society of Sculptors.
 * 1998 Galleri Roenland, Oslo, Norway.
 * 1998 CCA Gallery, Cambridge, UK.
 * 1997 Mythology: Recent Sculpture, Albemarle Gallery, London.
 * 1997 Wimpole Hall, the National Trust, Cambridge, UK.
 * 1995 Ad Occhi Aperti, Chiostro di Sant' Agostino, Pietrasanta, Italy.
 * 1994 Helaine Blumenfeld: Myth & Metaphor, La Subbia Gallery, Pietrasanta, Italy.
 * 1994 Tresors d’Art, with Sarina Tang Fine Art, Singapore.
 * 1992 Helaine Blumenfeld: Cambridge 1972-1992, CCA Gallery, Cambridge, UK.
 * 1992 Masters of Modern Sculpture: Archipenko, Blumenfeld, Brancusi, Chadwick, and Moore, Galerie am Lindenplatz, Lichtenstein.
 * 1991 Trent’anni da Sem, Pietrasanta, Italy.
 * 1990 Forum International Exhibition, Düsseldorf, with Leinster Fine Art.
 * 1990 Studio D’Arte La Subbia, Viareggio, Italy.
 * 1989 Chicago International Art Exposition with Leinster Fine Art.
 * 1989 3rd International Contemporary Art Fair, Los Angeles with Leinster Fine Art, London.
 * 1989 Blue Hill Cultural Center, Pearl River. New York Hopper House, Nyack, New York.
 * 1988 Leinster Fine Art, London.
 * 1987 Helaine Blumenfeld - Figurative Landscapes: Sculptures for the National Dance Institute, Alex Rosenberg Gallery, New York.
 * 1986 Galleri Kampen, Oslo, Norway.
 * 1986 Blumenfeld: Recent Work, Leinster Fine Art.
 * 1985 Henry Moore/Helaine Blumenfeld: Dialogue, Alex Rosenberg Gallery, New York.
 * 1985 Villa Schiff, Montignoso, Italy.
 * 1985 ArtExpo, Basel, Switzerland.
 * 1985 Helaine Blumenfeld Sculpture, Coventry, Whitefriars
 * 1984 Galleri Kampen, Oslo, Norway.
 * 1984 Le Salon des Nations, Paris. Toujours L'Elegance, Leinster Fine Art.
 * 1981 Four American Sculptors Working in Britain, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
 * 1980 Palazzo Mont Edisone, Viareggio, Italy
 * 1980 Aberbach Fine Art, London
 * 1979 Zoumboulakis Gallery, Athens
 * 1978 FIAC, Galerie Jacques Kaplan, Grand Palais, Paris
 * 1977 Galerie Attali, Paris
 * 1976 Retrospective 1966-1976, Bonino Gallery, New York
 * 1974 Bonino Gallery, New York
 * 1973 Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK
 * 1971 Bonino Gallery, New York
 * 1969 Palais Royal, Galerie Jacques Casanova, Paris
 * 1968 Chapman Gallery, New York

Personal life
She is married to Yorick Blumenfeld, a writer and has two sons, Remy Blumenfeld, a TV producer and Jared Blumenfeld, an environmentalist  Helaine lives in Cambridge and Italy with her husband Yorick Blumenfeld.

Awards & recognition

 * Blumenfeld is vice-president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.
 * In 2007 she won the Premio Pietrasanta nel Mondo.
 * She received an honorary OBE in July 2011. The ward was presented by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt at the House of Commons.
 * In 2002, Blumenfeld received an honorary doctor of letters from Leicester University.

In popular culture
A documentary film named Hard Beauty, directed by Rupert Edwards, is based on Blumenfeld's life and work. The film was premiered on Sky Arts in April 2018.