Helaine Blumenfeld

Helaine Blumenfeld
Born
Helaine M. Colton

1942 (1942)
New York City
Education
OccupationSculptor
Relatives
AwardsHonorary OBE
Websitehelaineblumenfeld.com

Helaine Blumenfeld (born 1942) is an American sculptor particularly known for her large-scale public sculptures. She creates works primarily in marble and bronze but also in granite and other materials.[1][2] Examples of her work are in the collections of Clare College, Cambridge, the Courtauld Gallery and the Smithsonian.[3] Amongst her large-scale public works are Family in granite installed in Henry Reuss Federal Plaza in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Tempesta in marble at The Lancasters, London; and Fortuna in bronze at Canary Wharf, London.[3] [4] A fellow and past vice president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, Blumenfeld was awarded an Honorary OBE in 2011.[5][1] She lives in the United Kingdom and works there and in Pietrasanta, in Tuscany in central Italy.[6]

Life and career

Blumenfeld was born in New York City in 1942 and grew up in Jamaica Estates in the Borough of Queens. Her father was a builder. Her mother, a daughter of Russian émigrés, was a poet and painter.[7][8] She received her BA and MA from the University of Michigan and then went on to study for her PhD in political philosophy at Columbia University. After completing her doctoral dissertation, John Locke: A Science of Ethics, in 1964, she studied art in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under the sculptor Ossip Zadkine.[9][6]. She held her first solo exhibition, a group of polished bronzes, in 1966 at the Palais Pálffy in Vienna.[10][2]

Blumenfeld had met her husband Yorick in a New York bookshop while she was researching her PhD. They married when she was 20 and had two sons.[7] Their elder son Remy, born in 1965, is a television producer. Their younger son Jared became an environmentalist and served as the EPA Administrator for California and the West under the Obama administration.[11] The Blumenfelds moved permanently to Europe in the late 1960s, eventually settling in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester in 1970 where Helaine also has her UK studio.[12]

A turning point in Blumenfeld's career came with her 1974 visit to Pietrasanta in Italy which eventually led her to add marble as one of her primary mediums. She had originally gone there to do bronze casting, but Alicia Penalba, another sculptor working in Pietrasanta, encouraged her to try sculpting in marble and introduced her to master carver Sem Ghelardini. Blumenfeld joined Ghelardini's Studio Sem and began learning stone-carving. At the time, she was the only woman working in the studio's marble yard. In the ensuing years she travelled back and forth from her Grantchester home to Pietrasanta to continue her work with Ghelardini. It was also in Pietrasanta during the 1970s that she met Henry Moore for the first time. He had come to the town to supervise two large-scale sculptures that Ghelardini was carving for him. In 1985 she had a joint exhibition with Moore entitled A British Dialogue: From Perry Green to Cambridge at New York's Alex Rosenberg Gallery. Twelve of her large-scale sculptures in marble and travertine were shown.[13][14][15]

By 2013 Blumenfeld's oeuvre had encompassed over 65 commissioned works for public spaces and private collections. The later years of her career have seen several major retrospective exhibitions of her work including those at the Royal British Society of Sculptors (2008),[16] Pietrasanta in the Piazza del Duomo and Chiesa di Sant'Agostino (2011),[17] Salisbury Cathedral (2013),[18] and Bowman Sculpture in London (2015). The London exhibition, entitled Helaine Blumenfeld – Henry Moore A Dialogue 1985–2015, marked the 30th anniversary of her first exhibit with Henry Moore.[19] Hard Beauty, a documentary film on her life and work, was broadcast on Sky Arts in April 2018.[20] The largest solo exhibition to date of the work of Helaine Blumenfeld was presented at Canary Wharf, London, from 16 March to 18 September 2020.[21][22] Eight of her artwork, including Meridiana, Mysteries, Taking Risks, Illusion, Fortuna, VENUS, ASCENT, and Metamorphosis, are now displayed and free to visit at Canary Wharf Art Trail.[23]

By 2013, Blumenfeld's body of work included more than 65 commissioned sculptures for public spaces and private collections.[24] In subsequent years, several retrospective exhibitions of her work were organized, including presentations at the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 2008, in Pietrasanta at the Piazza del Duomo and Chiesa di Sant'Agostino in 2011, at Salisbury Cathedral in 2013, and at Bowman Sculpture in London in 2015.[25] The London exhibition, Helaine Blumenfeld – Henry Moore: A Dialogue 1985–2015, marked the thirtieth anniversary of her first exhibition alongside Henry Moore.[26] A documentary film about her life and work, Hard Beauty, was broadcast on Sky Arts in April 2018.[27] In 2021, a large-scale exhibition of Blumenfeld's sculptures was presented at Canary Wharf in London between 16 March and 31 May.[28] Several of her works, including Meridiana, Metamorphosis (maquette), Illusion, Fortuna, and Metamorphosis, were subsequently installed as part of the Canary Wharf Art Trail, where they remain publicly accessible.[29]

Exhibitions

  • In 2018, Blumenfeld held a solo exhibition, Tree of Life, at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire.[36]
  • In 2019, Blumenfeld exhibited works at Skulptur i Pilane in Sweden. From 2020 to 2023, Blumenfeld's work was featured in Looking Up, an exhibition at Canary Wharf in London .[37]
  • From 2022 to 2023, Blumenfeld had a solo exhibition at Het Depot in Wageningen, the Netherlands.[38]
  • From 2025 to 2026, Gainsborough's House presented Tree of Life, an exhibition of Blumenfeld's sculpture. [39]

Public works and commissions

  • In 2018, Blumenfeld's sculpture created Tree of Life: Encounter for the Woolf at the Institute in Cambridge. [40]
  • Blumenfeld's sculpture Flame is held by Clare Hall, Cambridge.[41]
  • In 2022, Clare College, Cambridge, installed Blumenfeld's sculpture, Ommage.
  • Several of Blumenfeld's sculptures, including Fortuna, Illusion, and Metamorphosis, [42]are installed in the Canary Wharf public realm. [43]

Film and media

  • In 2018, Sky Arts broadcast Hard Beauty: The Sculpture of Helaine Blumenfeld, a documentary about her works. The film was also distributed internationally under the title Sculpting Dreams. [44]

Honours

Blumenfeld was elected a fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 2000 and from 2004 to 2009 served as the society's vice-president.[5] In 2007 she became the first female recipient of the Premio Pietrasanta nel Mondo. She received an honorary OBE in 2011.[6][1]

Blumenfeld received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Leicester in 2002.[45] She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors and served as vice-president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors from 2004 to 2009.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (July 15, 2011). "Internationally renowned sculptor receives honour". Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  2. 1 2 The Fitzwilliam Museum (2008). "As seen by Helaine Blumenfeld". Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Lacey, Hester (July 7, 2018). "The Inventory: Q&A with sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld". Financial Times. Retrieved September 6, 2018 (subscription required).
  4. ↑ Helaine Blumenfeld: Fortuna Canary Wharf Art Trail. Canary Wharf Group. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Royal British Society of Sculptors (2018). "Helaine Blumenfeld FRSS". Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Wright.Karen (June 9, 2012). "Helaine Blumenfeld: 'Art is a commitment to risk, a reflection of life – nothing stays the same'". The Independent. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Milner, Catherine (May 12, 2010). "Taking Risks". Country Life, pp. 108–109. Retrieved via helaineblumenfeld.com September 6, 2018.
  8. ↑ Watts, Michael (April 2017). "Lit from Within". Christie's Magazine, pp. 72–81. Retrieved via Newport News Public Art Foundation September 7, 2018.
  9. ↑ Seyler, William C. (September 1965). "II. Dissertations Completed Since the Last Listing". The American Political Science Review, Vol. 59, No. 3, p. 784. JSTOR 1953202 September 6, 2018 (subscription required).
  10. ↑ Cass Sculpture Foundation. "Helaine Blumenfeld: Biography". Cass Sculpture Foundation. Archived version of August 25, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  11. ↑ Krasny, Michael (2016). "Jared Blumenfeld Reflects on Six Years as EPA Chief for California and the West". KQED News. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  12. ↑ Cumming, Ed (September 19, 2016). "A sculptor's space: inside the home of Helaine Blumenfeld". The Observer. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  13. ↑ Flynn, Tom (May 22, 2015). Blumenfeld and Moore – a new dialogue. Wall Street International. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  14. ↑ Nandha, Tina (August 4, 2018). "Flashback". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  15. ↑ Anderson, Susan Heller and Dunlap, David W. (February 16, 1985). "Weight of the Art World". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  16. ↑ Jolley, Ben (July 23, 2018). "Exhibition of works by artist and contemporary sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld at Ely Cathedral". Ely Standard. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  17. ↑ Marin, Sergiu (September 2, 2011). "A Pietrasanta la scultura è donna con le opere di Helaine Blumenfeld". Lo Schermo. Retrieved September 7, 2018 (in Italian).
  18. ↑ Hounsell-Robert, Katy (June 14, 2013). "Outward signs of inner light". Church Times. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  19. ↑ s.n. (February 4, 2015). "Henry Moore and Blumenfeld seminal works to go on show". BBC News. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  20. ↑ Edwards, Rupert (April 17, 2018). "Helaine Blumenfeld: Britain's most successful sculptor you've never heard of". The Arts Desk. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  21. ↑ Looking Up: Helaine Blumenfeld at Canary Wharf – 06.11.19 Canary Wharf Group. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  22. ↑ Looking Up: Helaine Blumenfeld – Canary Wharf, London Salterton Arts Review. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  23. ↑ Canary Wharf Art Map Canary Wharf Art Trail. Canary Wharf Group. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  24. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld | Fordham". www.fordham.edu. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Ely Cathedral presents Tree of Life - a major solo exhibition by Helaine Blumenfeld OBE" (PDF). Digital Meets Culture.
  26. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld - Henry Moore A Dialogue 1985–2015" (PDF). bowman sculpture.
  27. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld documentary to premiere on Sky Arts". Woolf Institute (en-GB). Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  28. ↑ London, Luxury (March 9, 2020). "Helaine Blumenfeld OBE on transforming Canary Wharf into an urban sculpture park". Luxury London. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  29. ↑ "LOOKING UP. Helaine Blumenfeld | 16 March 2020 - 20 December 2023 - Overview". Hignell Gallery. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  30. ↑ Bueren, Sophie von (April 27, 2022). "Helaine Blumenfeld. Intimacy and isolation". Meer. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  31. 1 2 "Girl Seated a la Japonaise, 1964 (1964) by Helaine Blumenfeld - For Sale | Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  32. 1 2 3 Design, Ratio. "Helaine Blumenfeld | Het Depot - Beeldengalerij in Wageningen". Helaine Blumenfeld | Het Depot - Beeldengalerij in Wageningen (in Dutch). Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  33. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld | The Women's Art Collection". www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  34. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld in Conversation with Calvin Winner". Gainsborough's House. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  35. ↑ McNay, Anna. "Helaine Blumenfeld: 'Beauty has no real meaning any more'". www.studiointernational.com. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Art review: Helaine Blumenfeld at Ely Cathedral". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld at Skulptur i Pilane". Helaine Blumenfeld. October 7, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  38. ↑ MK. "Looking Up: Helaine Blumenfeld at Canary Wharf". www.studiointernational.com. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Helaine Blumenfeld OBE exhibition at Gainsborough's House". Helaine Blumenfeld. February 5, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  40. ↑ "Blumenfeld sculpture donated to The Woolf Institute". January 11, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  41. ↑ Helaine, Blumenfeld. "Flame, Clare Hall, Cambridge".
  42. ↑ helaine, blumenfeld. "Fortuna, Illusion and Metamorphosis, Canary Wharf".
  43. ↑ "How successful is new Clare sculpture as a 'HOMMAGE' to 50 years of co-education?". Varsity Online. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  44. ↑ "HARD BEAUTY I SCULPTING DREAMS | Sky Arts". Hignell Gallery. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  45. ↑ "Honorary graduates and fellows | Graduation". University of Leicester. Retrieved July 20, 2026.

Further reading

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