Other Portrait Heads
In 1980 and inrecognition of the part played by the British Royal Airforce in the liberation of Holland at the end of World War II David Cregeen was commissioned by the former members of the Dutch resistance to undertake a posthumous portrait head of Wing Commander Guy Gibson leader of the Dam Busters Squadron, who was shot down over Holland. The portrait head was presented to the 617 Squadron Association in Rotterdam that same year by the Major of Rotterdam.....
The sculptor met one of the United Kingdom’s leading contraltos of the past 50 years, Norma Procter early in his career when both were taking part in The Mannanan International Festival of The Arts in the Isle of Man. (Norma Procter: ‘A Life in Music’-.Lucy Wood Chapter 10).
The sculpture with its strong clear planes has a dramatic presence, a reminder of that remarkable vocal authority, interpretative feeling and purity of line which placed her amongst the musical elite of her time. (Lois Katz-2018).....
Lucy Burge, one of Rambert’s leading ballerinas of that time, had a particularly dramatic presence on the stage. In his portrait head of her he highlights those singularly dramatic features:
The head of Edward Wolkey sculpted in the same period is closely modelled. ‘The character is lightly imprinted on the face. Nuances are expressed in the final image as light falls on the surface of the bronze and is reflected back from the subtley modelled planes of the face". (Katz.1986).....
Greek tenor, Mario Frangoulis, was sculpted in 1993 at the beginning of his singing career. The portrait head reveals an expressive determination. Ten years later, 2003, he sculpted a head of Lindsay Duncan the portrait reflects the classical beauty of this leading British actress....
British diplomat Sir Crispin Tickell
Former British Ambassador to the UN.
A particular characteristic of Cregeen’s sculpture is his handling of eyes. One such example is the highly expressive posthumous portrait of Dr Winifred Rushford a practicing psychiatrist. The portrait head demonstrates the warmth, understanding and compassion of this woman as well as her quick mind and humour- the archetypal wise old woman.
The drive of the film director John Schlesinger is demonstrated in the bronze of him, one of Cregeen’s most forceful: a portrait of a man intent in purpose.
This head is sculpturally a reminder of Jacob Epstein’s bronze head of Augustus John’s infant son, Romilly. It is a short distance from Epstein to Cregeen with close links in the portrait heads. Both sculptors also show easy rapport with young sitters capturing the particular purity of a child. Nicholas Daley (1984) or Emir Surren (1998), Katia Hakku (1993) and Harry Tuffnel (2018). Modelled in Istanbul the classical simplicity of the youthful head Emir Suren is outstanding in its lineage with its forebears off two millennium ago.
Other portrait busts he has sculpted in Turkey include those of Mustafa Koc, Omer Koc, Duriye Pekin, Ayhan Sahenk, and Fatma Sen.
A particular characteristic of Cregeen’s sculpture is his handling of eyes. One such example is the highly expressive posthumous portrait of Dr Winifred Rushford a practicing psychiatrist. The portrait head demonstrates the warmth, understanding and compassion of this woman as well as her quick mind and humour- the archetypal wise old woman.
(From Lois Katz ''DAVID CREGEEN- HIS WORK. 2018)
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