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Grizel Niven

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Grizel Niven
Niven in 1991
Born
Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven

(1906-11-28)28 November 1906
Belgravia, London, England
Died28 January 2007(2007-01-28) (aged 100)
Known forSculpture
Notable workBessie, the award that is given to recipients of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven (28 November 1906 – 28 January 2007) was a British sculptor. She created the figurine presented to the winner of the annual Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, formerly the Orange Prize for Fiction, since its inception in 1996. Known as "The Bessie", the trophy is cast each year with a different mixture of bronze, making each award unique.

Niven created abstract and figurative works in a variety of materials such as fibreglass, resin, metal, Perspex, and hardboard.

Early life and education

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Grizel Niven was born in Belgravia, London, in 1906, the third of four children of William Edward Graham Niven and Henriette Degacher.[1][2][3] Her younger brother was the actor, writer and soldier David Niven.[4] Grizel, pronounced "Grizzle", was described as "an odd Scots name" in her brother's authorised biography.[3][5]

Her father, a British Army lieutenant, was killed in action in Turkey during the First World War on 21 August 1915.[2] In 2002, Niven recalled "I remember my father only very slightly" and "He seldom came home and we weren't all that close as a family."[3] Of her mother, she said, "We always had a nurse or governess, but I don't know what [mother] did all day. She didn't do any work or painting, cooking or gardening."[3] Her mother went on to marry diplomat Thomas Walter Comyn-Platt.[3]

Niven attended boarding school in Norfolk.[4] She discovered her love of carpentry when she had to make a set of wooden steps for the school library.[4] She was close to her brother David, with whom she played cricket and sailed in a dinghy when they were home on the Isle of Wight.[4]

In 1930, Niven graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) with a diploma in Acting.[6][7] Following a brief career in theatre, she studied sculpture with Henry Moore at Chelsea Polytechnic.[8]

Career

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Acting

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After completing her studies at RADA, Niven joined a touring theatre group, acting alongside Jean Anderson, Robert Morley, and Sir John Clements.[8] She once shared a stage with Dame Edith Evans in the West End, playing her maid.[4][8]

Sculpture

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As a sculptor, Niven was influenced by the abstract figures of Henry Moore, although she also created portrait sculptures including a "naturalistic" bust of her brother David.[4][8] She also perfected a technique to create wall sculptures made of fibreglass, resin and paint.[8] Her interest in architecture and the way that light is reflected off buildings led her to experiment with metal strips on Perspex or card; she also created black-and-white paintings and drawings which she called Catoptrics.[1]

Niven was one of 20 finalists in The Unknown Political Prisoner competition in 1953.[1] In 1959, Niven, in collaboration with architect Paul Clinton, was awarded a £100 prize for one the six best designs in an international competition for the memorial sculpture at the Dachau Concentration Camp.[9][10][11] Their entry, the only one from England, was described as "an open square surrounded by a double wall of dark grey stone with the sculpture of two hands reaching for the sky in the centre".[9] The prize was eventually won by Nandor Glid (the son of parents murdered in Auschwitz) in 1967.[10][11]

In 1980, Niven's studio in Fulham was broken into by a burglar who stole valuables, including her carving tools for wood and stone, and smashed everything in sight.[4][12] Although some works which had been hidden were recovered and some were repaired, she lost the will to work for several months.[4][12]

Her work was shown in group exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, as part of the The London Group, and around the world.[9][4] When Niven was in her eighties, her work was featured in a solo retrospective at the Edith Grove Gallery which continued for several years.[4][1] She also had a solo exhibition at The Place.[1] The Cortauld Institute of Art holds information about Niven's work.[1] Her Abstract Figure (1991) is in the collection of the Harris Museum in Preston.[13]

"The Bessie"

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Niven heard Kate Mosse talking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about setting up a Women’s Prize for Fiction, and had her representative call in to offer a cast of a sculpture of hers as a trophy.[14][15] The bronze Bessie figurine itself is 7.5 inches high.[16]

The Daily Telegraph described the trophy as "a small, female figure with a surface texture resembling the inside of a golf ball and peculiarly high-sitting breasts".[17] Each year, the sculpture is recast with a different mixture of bronze, making each trophy unique.[17] Mosse once stated that the reason behind the name "Bessie" is that it is the first name of the benefactress of the annual £30,000 award, who wished to remain anonymous.[18][17]

Personal life

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Niven remained close to her brother David throughout his life, accompanying him to dinner with Elizabeth Taylor and producer Mike Todd, and to drinks with Jackie and John F. Kennedy before he became president.[4] David died in 1983 of motor neuron disease, leaving her £60,000.[19][4] In 1993, Grizel held an exhibition in Chelsea as a fundraiser for the Motor Neuron Association.[19] In 2002, she was interviewed by Graham Lord as a source for David's biography titled Niv.[3]

Niven was a lesbian with a long-term girlfriend.[12][20] Although David had bought her a house on Fulham Road, she disliked it, and lived alone for many years in a council flat on Jubilee Place in Chelsea.[12] She later moved to a care home in Hammersmith.[21][12] She died on 28 January 2007, aged 100.[21][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Buckman, David (1998). Dictionaries of Artists in Britain since 1945. Bristol: Art Dictionaries. p. 911. ISBN 0 9532609 0 9.
  2. ^ a b "We remember William Edward Graham Niven". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lord, Graham (9 January 2005). "'Niv'". New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Studholme, Alexander (8 May 1991). "A head start over Niven". Evening Standard. London, England. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  5. ^ Handy, Bruce (9 January 2005). "'Niv': Blithe Spirit". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Grizel Niven". RADA. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Jean Anderson". The British Entertainment History Project. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Opening with Niven retrospective". Westminster & Pimlico News. 28 April 1988. Retrieved 27 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b c "2 Britons win Dachau prize – Memorial design". The Daily Telegraph. 17 December 1959. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b James Edward Young (1993). The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning. Yale University Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0-300-05991-5.
  11. ^ a b Architectural Association Journal. The Association. 1960. p. 216.
  12. ^ a b c d e Lord, Graham (2004). Niv: The authorized biography of David Niven. T. Dunne Books. pp. 3, 5, 8, 10–12, 32, 39, 44, 49, 59, 101, 110, 139, 150, 170, 216, 230, 239–240, 256, 271, 278, 289, 305, 307, 312, 365. ISBN 031232863X.
  13. ^ "Abstract Figure (1991)". contemporaryartsociety.org. Contemporary Art Society. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  14. ^ Salter, Jessica (23 August 2013). "The world of Kate Mosse, author". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  15. ^ The Europa Directory of Literary Awards and Prizes. Routledge. 2015. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-135-35631-6.
  16. ^ "About". The BAILEYS Women's Prize for Fiction. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  17. ^ a b c Brown, Helen (5 June 2001). "Works of Fiction". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Orange gets fruity". The Daily Telegraph. 20 April 1996. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b "Star's sister shows sculpture". Kensington and Chelsea News. 5 May 1993. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Osborne, Helen (24 November 2003). "He had charm, but not to spare". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  21. ^ a b "Grizel NIVEN". Thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  22. ^ "Grizel Niven (1907-2007)".
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