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An evening was held in the Senior Common Room of the Royal College of Art to celebrate the life of Prof Bernard Meadows who died at the age of 89 on the 12th January 2005. He would probably not have approved of such an event as he was totally against fuss and had said that after his death he did not want a funeral or memorial service of any kind. However many of his friends felt that it was inconceivable that the passing of such a great man should not be marked in some way and his wife Susan and daughters Anthea and Julia were consulted before the evening was organised. The Rector, Professor Christopher Frayling, spoke, in his usual eloquent manner, of Bernard’s achievements and life and Bryan Kneale added many remembered anecdotes. Meadows had a very long association with Henry Moore and it was appropriate that Timothy Llewellyn, Director of the Henry Moore Foundation, should speak of this friendship and the importance of Bernard’s contribution to the running of the Foundation after Moore’s death. Professor John Hedgecoe, ex-Professor of Photography, Mrs Gimpel of, the Gimpel Fils Gallery, Bernard’s gallery for many years and Tissa Ranasinghe, ex-Head of Foundry also added their reminiscences. Extracts were read from testimonies received from friends unable to be there including Peter Kardia, Martin Naylor and Professor Frank Height. About sixty people came along and it was very moving as one walked through the crowd to hear of the many memories and anecdotes being recalled. Throughout the evening slides were being shown of examples of some of Bernard’s fine works which brought home how very unrecognised his achievements were probably mostly because he did not seek the limelight and as quoted by Rene Gimpel “never chased the market and was unusual amongst artists because he had to be coaxed into having an exhibition”. Bernard Meadows was a very fine Professor who influenced the work of very many artists a lot of whom went on to establish themselves as renowned sculptors. During his time as Professor at the College he established a reputation of being a bit of an ogre and many a person went in fear of his harsh words, however he was one of the fairest tutors ever and would always give praise where due. I was very fortunate in perhaps getting to know him a little better and can vouch for the fact that he was in fact a gentle giant underneath. I kept in touch with him for many years after his retirement and shall value always the afternoon teas I spent with him and his wife recalling many memories of life at the College although he was certainly not somebody who lived in the past and kept very himself well informed about current affairs. He also continued working on his drawings and collages right up until his death. Apart from the people mentioned above, the following were friends and colleagues who also attended the event: Brian Catling, John Cobb, Andrew Davies, Steve Furlongeer, Rene and Mrs Gimpel, Joanna Greenhill, Nigel Hall, David Horn, Stephen King, Viv Levy David Mach, Edna nd Waj Mirecka, David Mitchinson, Jim Pearson, Malcolm Poynter, William Pye, Ismail Saray and Jenni Boswell-Jones, Roderick Coyne, Andre Wallace, Richard Wentworth, Alison Wilding, and Professor Glyn Williams. Dorothy Barraclough
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