Summers Place Auctions
Lot 94
▲ William Mitchell: A GRP mural of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run depicting a vintage car race 1970`s in four sections each panel measures 167cm.; 66in high by 122cm.; 48ins wide, overall width 488cm.; 192ins Divided into four panels modelled in high relief with various well known landmarks on the London to Brighton Veteran car Run, including St Pauls Cathedral, Nelsons column, the newly built Post Office Tower, opened in 1965, The Albert Memorial, and Brighton Pavilion, together with various vintage cars. William George Mitchell (b1925) is an English sculptor, artist and designer. From the 1950s, Mitchell produced work for a wide variety of clients. His initial appointment at the London County Council (LCC) allowed him to set up his own company in the early 1960s, a company which at one point employed over 40 skilled craftsmen and artists. Mitchell`s interest in experimentation, during the 1960`s and 70`s resulted in a wide range of projects including the use of contemporary construction materials such as GRP (Glass reinforced plastic) and GRC (Glass reinforced concrete) to create large scale panelled installations as in this example. In the 1980s Mitchell went to work in Qatar for the Royal Families designing and building both the Qatar Zoo and the extensive Doha Corniche waterfront promenade. He also worked for the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in San Francisco, USA where he was responsible for designing and constructing many of the decorative panelling and sculptural installations at a number of stations across the system. The 1980s also saw Mitchell in Honolulu, Hawaii where he created the modelled surroundings of the Civic Square. Mitchell spent many years as artistic design adviser to Mohammed Al Fayed and was responsible for the overall design and for the carving and modelling of the panels for the Egyptian Hall and the Egyptian escalator at Harrods. Mitchell has been a member of the Design Advisory Board, Hammersmith College of Art, Trent Polytechnic, Formwork Advisory Committee and the Concrete Society, and is a regular on the construction lecture circuit, both in his home country and abroad (especially the USA), being described as a |Doyen of British muralists| at a presentation he gave in 2007 to the Tile and Ceramics Society. After long years of neglect, many of William Mitchell`s remaining works in the United Kingdom are now being recognised for their artistic merit and contemporary historic value, and many have been granted protected listed status.
