Joyce Bidder

Muriel Joyce Bidder (5 January 1906 – 26 February 1999) was an English sculptor. Over a long career, she created works in a variety of materials.

Biography

Bidder was born at Wimbledon in south-west London and studied at the Wimbledon School of Art, where she was taught by the sculptor Stanley Nicholson Babb.[1][2]

In 1933, she met Daisy Borne, whom she taught to carve.[1] The two set up a studio together at Wimbledon and became life-long companions.[1] Bidder worked in a variety of materials, including bronze, green slate, marble, terracotta, stone and wood to produce statuettes, group figures and reliefs.[3] She often worked in woods such as walnut, Spanish chestnut, oak and mahogany.[3] Her subjects included sporting events, such as the sculpture group Tackled, and depictions of labourers at work.[4]

Bidder regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy in London between 1931 and 1957, and between 1933 and 1971 showed a total of 65 pieces with the Society of Women Artists.[3][5] She was elected an Associate of the Society of Women Artists in 1949 and became a full member two years later. She was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.[1][3]

Examples of her work appeared in the 1986 exhibition Sculpture in Britain Between the Wars, organised by the Fine Art Society, which hosted a joint exhibition of work by her and Borne in 1987.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e David Buckman (2006). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0-953260-95-X.
  2. ^ Benezit Dictionary of Artists Volume 2 Bedeschini-Bulow. Paris: Editions Grund. 2006. ISBN 2-7000-3070-2.
  3. ^ a b c d Sara Gray (2019). British Women Artists. A Biographical Dictionary of 1000 Women Artists in the British Decorative Arts. Dark River. ISBN 978-1-911121-63-3.
  4. ^ a b Peyton Skipwith (17 March 1999). "Obituary: Joyce Bidder". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  5. ^ University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Muriel Joyce Bidder". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 16 January 2022.

1 artwork by or after Joyce Bidder at the Art UK site