The photograph above shows the unveiling of Sir Frank Dobson's sculpture ‘Woman with a Fish’ at St Katherine's Gardens in the centre of Northampton in the early 1950s. It was first exhibited at the 1951 Battersea Park sculpture exhibition.
Today, as my photograph below shows, you will find it in the gardens at Delapre Abbey.
I remember being taken to see the Woman with a Fish statue in St Katherine's Gardens by my mother on my way to visit the dentist at the School Clinic nearby in the 1950's.i thought it was an extremely ugly statue of a woman and was offended by her nudity and strange shape.
ReplyDeleteEach time we saw her she had suffered some indignity and I remember seeing her covered in paint, she was obviously not appreciated at the time by the residents of Northampton.
The statue disappeared when the site was redeveloped and the next time I saw her she was in the gardens at Delapre Abbey.
I now realise what an important piece of work this statue represents in the history of art in the 20th century
I also remember the statue in the gardens out side the school dentist clinics in the town centre.
ReplyDeleteWe used to travel from the schools on the outskirts of northampton when we were just 6 - 8 years of age.
Having special bus passes to travel on the council busses.
These daysI wouldn’t think that children wouldn’t be allowed to do this .
But the Lady and the Fish had just been placed there, I think I came from The Festival of Britain or something like that.
I have wondered for years where this beautiful statue was.
Certainly to a young 8 year old she was so beautiful.
Thank you
Maurice Haynes
Does anybody know what the Women with a Fish represents? I am curious as to the meaning behind it? Thanks, Heather
ReplyDeletewe used to throw stones at her the police took me home after school at spring lane one day and asked her to make it clear to me that throwing stones at her may block her hole up-----i am 74 now and often think of that ride in that nice humber police car
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