The haunting Standard series depicts predatory birds such as vultures or eagles perched on celebratory or commemorative extended columns. In total Frink made five large Standards in a single year. Their title suggests ceremonial or military themes. They depict vultures or eagles, threateningly perched on columns. The birds are hauntingly ambiguous, and include details such as claws clinging onto the post, claws which offer safety to the bird yet threat to their prey. [1]

Elisabeth Frink (1930- 1993 is one of the most important British sculptors of the twentieth century. Her expressionist sculptures address some of the more fundamental questions concerning aspects of human behaviour such as aggression and vulnerability. Known for both human and animal forms, she was also fascinated by the symbiotic relationship between humans them. Frink made hundreds of sculptures, virtually single-handed (rarely used assistants) she worked tirelessly at her craft.

Frink was born in Great Thurlow in Suffolk and spent her formative years in war-time East Anglia. She studied at the Guildford School of Art (1946–49) and at the Chelsea School of Art (1949–53) and remained resolutely an expressionist figurative artist against the prevailing trends of her time. She died prematurely in 1993 at the young age of 62 and was widely admired in her lifetime, a Royal Academician, a Dame and a Companion of Honour.

Calvin Winner, January 2022

[1] Calvin Winner (ed) Elisabeth Frink – Humans and Other Animals, Sainsbury Centre, 2018, p.22

In total Frink made five large Standards in a single year. Their title suggests ceremonial or military themes. They depict birds of prey threateningly perched on columns. The birds are hauntingly ambiguous, yet have details such as claws clinging onto the post, claws which offer safety to the bird yet threat to their prey.