On Loan
Rachel Reckitt
(1908 - 1995)
The Tower
Reserved
Rachel Reckitt (1908 - 1995)
Size:
Height – 46cm
Width – 30cm
Rachel Reckitt trained at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in the 1930’s under Ian McNab, and exhibited with Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth as part of the London group.
After her time in London, Reckitt largely worked from West Somerset, and this may explain why her
reputation has somewhat diminished. However, her highly individual style, which exploits volume and the
treatment of surface – and borrows elements from the Surrealist and Constructivist movements – was consistently modern.
Artist in mild steel, wood, stone, paint and wood engraving, born in St Albans, Hertfordshire. She studied at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in late 1930s under lain Macnab, and in 1970-5 at the Roadwater Smithy, Somerset, with Harry and Jim Horrobin. After training Reckitt worked from home in west Somerset at Rodhuish, Minehead. Carried out commissions for pub signs; wood-engraved book illustrations and single prints; and did sculpture in five Somerset churches and for private commission. She was an honorary member of the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen and SWE and a member of British Artist Blacksmiths’ Association. Other group shows included Wertheim Gallery and LG. Had solo exhibitions at Duncan Campbell Contemporary Art and Bridgwater Arts Centre. A retrospective publication, Rachel Reckitt: where everything that meets the eye… appeared in zoos, Hal Bishop’s survey of her work, supported by Somerset County Museums Service and the Golsoncott Foundation, accompanying shows in Taunton, Glastonbury and Exeter. Public collections in Salford and Bridgwater hold examples, as do Withycombe, Old Cleeve and Leighland.
