Tuesday 4 February 2020

Is Wales The New France?

 I got dragged to Wales when I was a child.
As a teenager with a serious paper round it would cost me wages to go away and I always tried to stay home alone, so as to be free for a week.
Well when I say Wales, it was North Wales and every other person seemed to be from Liverpool.
 I recall one week at the summer peak most of the customers on my paper round seemed to be on the same Caravan site, or maybe the next.
Gradually I broke away and become friends with many of the locals, who would call for me when I was there and we would go off to the arcades and the fairgrounds looking for holiday makers, hoping to Kiss Girls Quickly and Squeeze Them Slow.
Or was it Kiss Them Slowly and Squeeze Them Quick.
Well both really, I wasn't that fussy.
This is the time before Facebook and Social Media so it seemed impossible to plan ahead. So you pick up friends where you are.
 Staying in touch was difficult.
When I got a bit older my Welsh girlfriend didn't have a phone so every Tuesday and Thursday she would walk over the phone box and call me. Or try to.
There used to be queues outside phone boxes, remember those big red monsters sitting on the pavement usually on the corner of roads.
I would phone and a bloke would answer it waiting for someone to call him.
“Its not you again is it? Will you get off the line I am waiting for a call”
I would hear my lady friend asking “Is that for me”?
“I don't know, you will have to wait” It was a joke.
I would ring back a few minutes later and the phone would be engaged, and engaged and engaged again seemingly forever. I would go the loo or something and come back to the phone and my sister would be on it, gabbing away one of her friends. Smiling......
“How long are you going to be” I would ask. She would be talking for an age and eventually I would make the call and the phone would ring out. She had been waiting that long that she went home.
This went on and on for a long time.
The kids don't know they are born today with their mobiles.
Now I am starting to sound like my old man.
I always recall when we came into the road to Prestatyn and looked over the valleys and even though I was interested in previously stated.... other things as a youth, I could not deny the outstanding natural beauty.
Being a fisherman my treat was to get into Wales with the grown men, who were all accomplished Anglers who would show me how to lay the ledger down in a eddy swell and wait for a chunky Chub to snatch my luncheon meat.
Or trot a float down river for some distant shoal of Dace. The hope of hooking a Grayling was always there.
 I did many times, becoming an accomplished angler. I took it very seriously indeed.
https://waynecolquhoun.blogspot.com/2015/03/pilkingtons-vase-decorated-by-richard.html 
I stayed out of trouble by fishing the rivers and lakes of Wales sometimes getting as far as Bala. Rain, hail and snow and the glistening sunshine in the summer there was no obstacles to my adventures.
My mates at school called me Findus for a while. 
Findus The Fisherman. I hated that.
Captain Haddock was another. It just shows you how much they knew as I did not go sea fishing.
Some of them would get into trouble later on. How could I tell them back at my school for hard knocks, about the excitement of seeing a Kingfisher land on my rod. And that its iridescent red breast feathers shone like beacons against the pure white snow. That snow that had drifted in overnight. That we had travelled through watching the wildlife wake up. While  the more nocturnal creatures such as foxes would be seen scurrying home before the dew had drifted away on the breeze. The air always tasted different. There was no taste of smoke or industry.
It was then that I decided I will come back when I am older but apart from antique buying trips, I only occasionally travelled back through the country.
It never disappointed even if sometimes the food did.
That's all changed now.
To stock my India Building shop I would travel to the continent sometimes twice a month, circumnavigating most of France and then all over it again.
Like a grown up kid looking for treasure I searched for Circa. Circa 1900, Circa 1920.
 Art Deco became my favourite style and France seemed the place to pick it up.
I must have been to some cities 40 times over twenty years. There are some I know as well as my home town.
I don't know whether its the fact that the language barrier means you miss the mundane, but the food was always good and the perk of the job was that I could eat out most nights.
 I have eaten some good food in France, I mean really good.
Though some of the best was cooked in French style in Belgium, but that's another story.
What a beautiful country full of twists and turns and friendly people.

But the grass is always greener on the other side.....of the Channel in this case.
But as with the poem that has always stayed with me says.

We shall not cease from exploration
And at the end of my exploring
I will arrive where I started
And know the place for the very first time.

I don't know if its just because you are older but It is a delight to journey through the Welsh hillsides with all their surprises. I think that the lack of industry and investment in some areas has been sadly missed but there are areas that look as if they have not changed for ever.
And this now, is that countries charm. Or at least that's my opinion based on the areas that I have recently frequented.
This means that in some places it has saved its rivers and lakes from pollution so you can quite easily go wild swimming in crystal clear pools that are hardly off the beaten track.
See waterfalls with that sweet fresh magnetic smell.
Rolling hills and sunken valleys with trees, branches moss laden with emerald velvet shimmering in the April showers. Yes, there are showers but that is the price to pay for the lush life and that spring growth that seems to regenerate your soul.
Its the spring, when the Welsh come out of their strong sturdy slate stacked piles, from their winter slumber. In just enough time to spare, to greet the new wave of woolly jumper-ed walkers who too, need to taste that fresh air with its bitter sweet taste of cold dew, lifting from the winter wake. They come from all over the world. 
Though lingering in the memories of The Welsh is Tryweryn. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34528336

It is easy to provoke but if you play a straight bat you are alright.
And when you go into the history and the language.
Welsh is in fact ancient Breton.
The English are speaking a mixture of Viking, Angle and Saxon. The Welsh have kept their independence and you have to respect that.
The English are the ones who have been conquered many times.
I recently found underneath the pews in a listed slate built Welsh Chapel, a simple piece of pitch pine. Signed John Felix. Taliesin.
 And dated 1895.


Frank Lloyd Wright one of the 20th centuries great architects called his design company Taliesin. His company would be responsible for the curving Guggenheim, amongst many other memorable structures. 
This brings into my minds eye several stories of King Arthur's bard and poet of the same name, who may have been washed up in a leather satchel on the beach of Aberystwyth.
 The Arthurian legend is as much Welsh as it is French in the guise of L'Morte D'Arthur.
I am amazed at how little I have been made aware of the great history of Wales.
I really do look forward to exploring the myths and legends of old Wales.
Its time to pay respect and appreciate the history and independence and learn a bit of the old Brythonic language.

Wales Definitely Is The new France …...For Me.

Tuesday 14 January 2020

Supermarine Spitfire-One Of My Favourite Things.


Long before I understood what beauty was I admired this formidable fighting machine for its beauty.
I would build Airfix models of Spitfires and Messerschmidt and dogfight them together, inspired by the periodicals of the day and films on TV showing the glorious few who flew them as heroes.
I don't know how you can claim a killing machine was one of your favourite things but because of its place in history. I will.

K5054 was the code name for the first prototype Spitfire that was the marriage of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine and the frame that Reginald Mitchell had designed.
June 1937 Mitchel died of tuberculosis

K9787 was the first spit in production. The first fliers were astounded by its ability. The production created many challenges as the tooling process was particularly complex with many new style of engineering principles that the engineers had to master. The wings were particularly slim and the placing of them in such a low position helped to keep down drag.

Merlin 2 had a fixed pitch wooden propeller.
Could reach 20000 feet in 9.4 minutes.
The 78th spit had a De Haviland steel propeller to get more speed. A constant speed propeller with a Merlin 3 engine was fitted to the 178th.
Few were produced. There were only 3 squadrons in 1938.
Hurricanes were easier to produce.
There was a pitifully low production early on.
Sir Hugh Dowding almost single handedly produced Britain's radar system.
Home and Chain home low made u the worlds first air defence. …......Filter systems identified friendly and attacking forces.
Ladies were employed in plotting rooms.
The enemy could not track.
Once crossed the radar and observers plotted the course by relaying the information back to the centre.
The idea was that flying to combat would be as simple as possible.
Sept 1st 1939 Hitler marched into Poland. The new war had begun with fighters employing blitzkrieg in tandem with the ground armed forces of the German army.
France did not act decisively and soon the Germans moved on through the defences, around the Maginot line.
In November the first Spitfire flew over Germany in reconnaissance mode.
They could out fly flak at 35,000 feet.
Photographing would become a job for the spitfire with all its guns stripped out to make it lighter and faster.
Then the RAF bases in France were attacked. The French air force was withdrawn to the safety of the interior huge losses were attained. BEF were shrunk to Dunkirk and the last RAF airfield was abandoned.
The Messerschmidt 109E had 2 fuselage mounted machine guns and 2 cannon, wing mounted and were a formidable foe. Their pilots were confident. They would encounter Spits for the first time during operation dynamo.
16 squadrons of British aircraft including Spits at a time would see action with another 16 joining the Supermarines.
The Spitfire could out turn the 109 whose muzzle velocity was low and it was found that the convergence of the spits guns at 200 yds could destroy a 109 in a single pass. 132 aircraft were destroyed away from the beaches at Dunkirk but the RAF prevented the German bombers from smashing the BEF.
The troops on the ground would distrust the RAF as many of them did not see the battles that went on away from the beaches to prevent many German airplanes getting to the beaches.
338,000 British and allied troops escaped.
The true judge of combat showed the spit as a superb aircraft.
The conquest of Britain was planned. Herman Goring planned the invasion massing in early August for Eagle day the plan to start the invasion. While bombing ports and attacking convoys the canal account began. While defending the ports and convoys the 109's would be engage the British. Fighter command thought the first engagements were successful. But they only had 19 of spit and 29 of Hurricanes so husbanding Dowding forces engaging the bombers was a priority but over 400 planes had been lost.
The constant speed propeller increased its climb and engine wear.
Incendiary bullets increased killing power. Many pilots recognised its difference in shooting it out of the sky.
There was armour behind the seats. Bullet proof glass was fitted. Dowding arguing if BP glass was good enough for Chicago gangsters it was good enough for his pilots.
A V of three pilots were the method employed. But they could be bounced by a formation flying at high speed towards it.
The formation would be broken.
A finger of four was employed by Luftwaffe and the swarm would be the best formation. 125 were destroyed but most of these were bombers but the fighters killed 50 pilots and 35 spits and 36 hurricanes. The V was abandoned on initiation in favour of the swarm. By the British.
FL Alan Deer destroyed 17 aircraft during Battle of Britain. Taylor Malan a South African got a bar added to his DSO along with other medals. The German aces were a formidable foe and many of them would see the war with several hundred kills many on the eastern front.
The Spits and Hurries were fitted with cameras that filmed while the guns were engaged. These were shown to the public in cinemas and helped morale.
Claiming our pilots and planes were better than theirs saying the RAF gave the Nazis a beating over Dunkirk.
August 12th began a perilous time and 1790 sorties of Sept 17th.
183 were lost by fighter command by the 18th.
Losses outstripped supply and pilots were thrown in without adequate training.
If this was continued within 3 weeks the RAF would be finished.
Spitfire 1
Reginald Mitchell.
Towards close of Battle of Britain 920 spitfire 2's had been delivered to RAF. Merlin 12 was fitted (replacing the Merlin 3 of the mark 1) and the engine had been rated at 1175 Hp and fitted with cartridge starting.
The Spit II also had more gun power and most had 2a's 172bs were fitted with canon.
Mk3 and 4 never went into production.
1000 sorties a day were flown by Luftwaffe.
What Britain needed now was a miracle Dowding said.
After RAF raids on Berlin Hitler told the Luftwaffe to bomb London and the cities and this was the miracle required. Who ordered the bombing was it Churchill.
Goring was told the spitfires were down to 50 and ordered the Me 109's to stay close to the bombers and as result the 9 days up to September 15th 351 to 170 British fighters.
Spitfires were being produced faster than lost now.
Winter weather was a impossible barrier and Sept 17th invasion was cancelled.
If there really was an invasion as many now feel it was a feint to attack Russia.
October 20th 1940 day time bombing was suspended by The Germans.
This was the summer of the finest hour.
920 Spits were delivered Spit 2's were delivered with cartridge stating with more armour. “ B's had cannon.
The ME 109F was upgraded in January 1941 at heights above 240000 ft was a more superior aircraft and as a result the Spitfire 1 airframe was strengthened and a Merlin 45 engine was placed in.
February 1941.
Top speed 370 mph . Ceiling was 36.500 ft. Some wings were clipped for roll speed. Sub types were specified by wing types. A wing had 4 no 303 Browning machine guns. B took 20ml Hispano canon and 2 machine guns. C wing had flexibility 2 canon 1 canon and 2 machine guns with a second muzzle canon blanked off or 4 machine guns.
Result was Spitfire 5 was the most used spitfire and played a massive role in the defence of Malta.
1942 Spit flew as a fighter bomber.
In 1942 Fokker Wolf 190 was seen in ever growing numbers and outclassed the Mk 5
The MK VI was produced to combat it as it was superior.
Supermarine produced 7, 8 and 9.
The mk 9 Merlin 60 engine to a 5c airframe with a 2 stage supercharger with a after cooler giving the aircraft a top speed of 400 ph and 44,00 feet surface ceiling.
1944 MK9's were fitted with a new wing the E-TYPE.
Housing 20ml canon and a .50 machine gun. No German or Japanese could withstand this power.
MK 9 would stay in production. 5739 Mk9('s were built by wars end.
A seaplane conversion Echo Schneider cup was never put into production. 1943.
In October1944 a MK 14 as put into production and a Rolls Royce Griffin 65 engine was fitted.
Griffin was first fitted to a Spit in MK 4 in 1941.
A five blade propeller was needed to take advantage of its 2035 Hp Griffin 65 had immense power. 439 mph max speed and 43000 ft ceiling.
MK 14 was the final and most potent of WWII. Final WWII
MK 18 a strengthened version at the end of the war. Last of the original spit airframe.
Mk 21 to 24 were different aircrafts with Mitchell wing radically altered and few original parts remained.

In Malaya the last few Spits flew.



THE SPITFIRE One of the most inspired designs in Military Aviation History.

I DO NOT NEED TO ADD ANY MORE SUPERLATIVES THAN HAVE ALREADY BEEN NOTED.

Wednesday 26 June 2019

Liverpool Threatened With World Heritage Site Status Deletion. Again.


How many times can Liverpool get away with bluffing Unesco.
Last year there were frantic negotiations between Unesco and UK officials at DCMS to save Liverpool's deletion from The World Heritage register.
After the UK Government gave assurances to The United Nations it was decided that Liverpool would not be deleted, pending strict criteria that had to be met.
Previous years had seen Unesco requesting a moratorium of new high rise developments in response to growing concern that the Liverpool planning authority were out of control and were not able to monitor developments in a manner appropriate for a city with World Heritage Site Status. Lime Street/Skelhorne Street developments were of particular concern.
Just look at the mediocrity that has been built. 

For over a decade now Liverpool has been running the Unesco deletion gauntlet. Dodging the bullet, its leaders acting like naughty schoolboys pretending they don't understand whats going on, promising they will uphold World Heritage principles.
All this whilst the Mayor of Liverpool was declaring publicly that World Heritage site Status is just a badge on the wall at the Town Hall.
This is the crude past of Liverpool rearing its ugly head yet again.
The lack of class within this city is the reason Liverpool was put on the World Heritage “At Risk” register, at the very same year that Aleppo and The Temple of Palmyra (That was subsequently destroyed by The Taliban).

The relentless push for development by Labour led council seems a throwback to an era that has blighted Liverpool's past.
I grew up in the Derek Hatton era.
My favourite bar was Kirklands, people come from all over the country to this trendy establishment housed in a Grade II listed old bakery. Look what they have done to it surrounded by …....student flats. A quick look round the corner shows how it also blights St Andrews Church Grade I listed that we fought to save despite the Council selling it to a convicted fraudster.
And look at what they have done to Lime Street. It is an architectural anachronism, made worse by the fact that each end of this monstrous carbuncle there are Grade II listed buildings. And all this adjacent the Historic Listed Lime street Station and St Georges Hall.
Lets not mention, oh alright we will, The Blind School opposite The Philharmonic Hall on Hardman Street.
It is with the deepest regret that I say, reluctantly that my city has been butchered to the state that its beautiful and historic listed structures now look alien in their own environment. The city can not face this relentless roller coaster of glass shoe boxes in the World Heritage Site.
Why does this current Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson want us to lose World Heritage Site Status?
He dodges the criticism through his £95,000 a year press agent who is there to assist his public persona. But Mayor, Joe Anderson has to take the blame for the mess that is Liverpool's architectural blight.
At this very moment in time with a World Heritage Committee meeting taking place in BAKU on 30th June 2019, there are no signs or a whisper of this International event that effects the city of Liverpool, from Liverpool City Council.
Hardly surprising that UNESCO have now made recommendations to delete Liverpool from the World Heritage list on 2020 after all the promises made to them by the UK government have cumulated in nothing but a smoke screen for dodgy developments led by The Mayoral Investment Fund.
Liverpool were given a lifeline after promising a new tall buildings policy.
Unesco have been requesting a DSoCR (Desired State of Conservation Report) since 2005.
A Desired State of Conservation Report for the removal of the property from the “At Risk” Register was urgently requested by The Unesco World Heritage Centre for Europe in 2011.
It now appears that, after years of bluff and bravado by Liverpool City Council, Unesco have not received satisfactory documentation to believe that Liverpool and the UK Government are taking the matter seriously.
At one stage The DCMS who are ultimately responsible for all UK World Heritage Sites stated that they are powerless in the wake of the relentless push and lack of overall monitoring of Liverpools Planning Authority.
Unesco have stated quite clearly that Everton FC's proposed Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock is against the previous World Heritage Committee decisions for further developments.
Unesco state “ It is regrettable that the consultation process did not adequately address potential impact on the OUV of the property, nor alternative locations and the public were not informed about the potential negative consequences”
To put it in context Joe Anderson, an Everton supporter is pulling the wool over the publics eyes in favour of his friends at Peel Holdings.
Joe Anderson was elected on a ticket that declared the creation of 20,000 jobs within The proposed Liverpool Waters development.
Eight years later not a single brick has been laid.
Lets see what Unesco think.




I, and my heritage colleagues have spent 15 years warning consecutive council leaders of the threat to losing World Heritage Site Status.
Whilst understanding the need to regenerate we have tried to advise that the OUV or put it more clearly the aesthetic values of this great city were being eroded by the monotonous desire to build vertical blocks of student flats that will become tenements of the future.
Last year it was declared that Liverpool had escaped deletion from the list.
This news was distorted into a good news story. Maybe it was.
But it is only prolonging the eventual in my opinion.


It has broken my heart watching my cherished views be despoiled by inappropriate urban development that is no more than civic vandalism sanctioned by a local authority, led by no more than Spivs.

And even now the news of Liverpool's proposed deletion from The World Heritage List is being suppressed.

Ms Isabelle Anatolle-Gabriel from Unesco even made a visit to the city in 2017 to address the threat to the public direct.

The world news that will be created by this devious intention to fluff the pockets of a few council friendly developers will have ramifications for every citizen of the city of Liverpool.
Liverpool World Heritage site status that Joe Anderson described as no more than a badge on the wall, at the Town Hall, will have to be replaced, by a badge of shame.

UNESCO STATE.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/3881 Read more by clicking the link.
Factors affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Governance: Lack of overall management of new developments
  • High impact research/monitoring activities: Lack of analysis and description of the townscape characteristics relevant to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property and important views related to the property and its buffer zone
  • Legal framework: Lack of established maximum heights for new developments along the waterfront and for the backdrops of the World Heritage property
  • Social/cultural uses of heritage 
  • Buildings and development: Commercial development, housing, interpretative and visitor facilities
  • Lack of adequate management system/management plan



It is plain that we are up for deletion from the World Heritage List in June 2020.

This time we may not escape. Read the Unesco Draft Decision below.

It is clear that Liverpool City Council have no intention, or are capable of being able uphold World Heritage principles.


Draft Decision: 43 COM 7A.47
The World Heritage Committee,
  1. Having examined
  2. Document WHC/19/43.COM/7A,
  3. Recalling Decision 36 COM 7B.93, 37 COM 7A.35, 38 COM 7A.19, 39 COM 7A.43, 40 COM 7A.31, 41 COM 7A.22 and 42 COM 7A.7 adopted at its 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 38th (Doha, 2014), 39th (Bonn, 2015), 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017) and 42nd (Manama, 2018) sessions respectively;
  4. Acknowledges the increasing engagement of civil society in the care of the property and its World Heritage status;
  5. Recalls its repeated serious concerns over the impact of the proposed Liverpool Waters developments in the form presented in the approved Outline Planning Consent (2013-2042) which constitutes an ascertained threat in conformity with paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines;
  6. Although noting that the State Party has submitted an updated and revised draft Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), notesthat comprehensive assessment of the proposed DSOCR by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies is still not feasible, as the approval of the DSOCR relies on the content of additional documents, which are yet to be prepared or finalized, including the Local Plan, the revised Supplementary Planning Document, the majority of the Neighbourhood Masterplans, and the Tall Building (skyline) Policy;
  7. Reiterates that the submission of a further draft of the DSOCR by the State Party and its adoption by the Committee should come prior to the finalization and approval of the necessary planning tools and regulatory framework and regrets that the alternative proposal of the Committee, expressed in Decision 42 COM 7A.7, for substantive commitments to limitation on the quantity, location and size of allowable built form, has not been followed;
  8. Although also noting that Peel Holdings (Liverpool Waters developer) reiterated its confirmation to Liverpool City Council (LCC) that there is no likelihood of the Liverpool Waters development scheme coming forward in the same form of the Outline Planning Consent, strongly requests the commitment of the State Party that the approved Outline Planning Consent (2013-2042) will not be implemented by Peel Holdings or other developers, and its revised version will not propose interventions that will impact adversely on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, including its authenticity and integrity;
  9. Expresses its extreme concern that the State Party has not complied with the Committee’s request to adopt a moratorium for new buildings within the property and its buffer zone, until the Local Plan, the revised Supplementary Planning Document, the Neighbourhood Masterplans, and the Tall Building (skyline) Policy are reviewed and endorsed by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, and the DSOCR is completely finalized and adopted by the World Heritage Committee, and urges the State Party to comply with this request;
  10. Also regrets that the submission of Princes Dock Masterplan and changes to the Liverpool Water scheme to the World Heritage Centre took place after their adoption by the LCC, and expresses its utmost concernthat these documents are putting forward plans, which does not ensure the adequate mitigation of the potential threats for which the property was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
  11. Also reiterates its consideration that the recent planning permissions issued for the Liverpool Waters scheme and elsewhere within the property and its buffer zone, and the stated inability of the State Party to control further developments, clearly reflect inadequate governance systems and planning mechanisms that will not allow the State Party to comply with Committee Decisions and will result in ascertained threat on the OUV of the property;
  12. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and on the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020, as well as a DSOCR and corrective measures that could be considered for adoption by the Committee;
  13. Decides to retain Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) on the List of World Heritage in Danger, with a view to considering its deletion from the World Heritage List at its 44th session in 2020, if the Committee Decisions related to the adoption of the DSOCR and the moratorium for new buildings are not met.






Thursday 28 February 2019

Antiques Roadshow 2019 Valuation Dates.

Antiques Roadshows 2019

The locations for Antiques Roadshows in 2019

Wednesday 20 February 2019

George Ehrlich Bronze-Piece of the Week.


Austrian-born sculptor, draughtsman and etcher

He is well known for his delicate and tender studies of children. His bronzes are mainly studies of adolescents or animals, though he also made a number of portrait busts and reliefs.


 He was engaged for many public commissions.










This work is 38cm high and is a study of a young child. 
Arms crossed across the torso they are wearing a loose fitting tunic with a wide kneckline and is signed in the bronze and numbered in latin numerals, I/VI which intimates this is part of a series of cast bronzes.
 I was told it was purchased directly from the artist.
The face has a real sense of feeling even a look of nonsulent melancholy.
 The child seems to be wearing a cap. But then again it could be a bobbin tied in the hair. The child seems to be bound in the pose not able to motion. Gazing out in sadness. Though I feel there is a deeper underlying meaning to the chosen pose, with its Pierrot-esque feel, that the artist wished to convey.
George Ehrlich (I always have to check that spelling) came to Britain in 1937 presumably to escape the Nazis. He had served in the Austrian army during WWI.
George Ehrlich (1897-1966)
Born in Vienna Austria in 1897.
Studied at Kunstgewerbeschule, the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts under the architect Strnad, 1912-15.


He served in the Austrian Army during the First World War. He initially trained as a draughtsman though would study the art of etching.
First one-man exhibition at the Galerie Hans Goltz, Neue Kunst, Munich, 1920. where he lived 1919-21.
He then moved to Berlin 1921 where he lived until 1923.
He began to make sculpture in 1926. First public commission Vienna 1928
Married Bettina Bauer, painter, 1930. His sculpture included in the Austrian pavilion at the Venice Biennale 1932, 1934, 1936 and again 1958.
He then moved back to Vienna where he lived until 1937.
Came to London as a refugee in 1937 and took British nationality. Awarded gold medal at Paris World Exhibition 1937.
Became naturalised British citizen in 1947.
His life-size bronze Bull for Municipality of Vienna was constructed 1959-60.
Awarded the Sculpture Prize of the City of Vienna 1961; elected ARA 1962.




The Arts Council organised a solo exhibition in 1964 which opened at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 1960 Then onto Garratt Green School, Wandsworth, London 1961.
Born in Vienna Austria in 1897.
Lived from 1963 in Italy and Austria, and died in Lucerne.

Exhibitions include : regular exhibitor at Royal Academy from 1940; Arcade Gallery, London 1945 (solo); Leicester Galleries, London 1950 (solo); Lefevre Gallery, London 1953 (solo); Sculpture in the Home, Arts Council 1946; LCC 1948, 54; SB 1951; AC 1957, 60, 61; VB 1958; Middelheim, Antwerp 1959.

Collections include: Tate Gallery; Arts Council; British Museum; Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Commissions include : Two Sisters 1944 for Essendon School for Girls, Hertfordshire; Boy and Girl with Puppy for Hastings High School, Burbage, Leicestershire c. 1956; Sarel House, Bethnal
Further reading: ‘London Commentary’, in Studio, August 1955, Vol. 150, No. 749.
E. Tietze-Conrat, Georg Ehrlich, (London, 1956)
A. Haskell, Georg Ehrlich, Bruton Gallery, Bruton, Somerset, 1978, (exh. cat.).
Biography from Whiteley (2001) with additional information from Hall (2004) and from Judith LeGrove.
Wealth at death: £29,129 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 15 February 1967

He is often associated with Alexander Archipenko   Read More Here

Sorry No Longer Available     See More Here