Austin Wright - Limbo

Austin Andrew Wright (1911 - 1997) grew up in Cardiff where he attended night classes at the Cardiff School of Art before studying Languages at New College, Oxford and pursuing a career as a teacher. He came to Yorkshire in 1937 and settled in Upper Poppleton with his wife Sue in 1946 and was based in the county for the remainder of his life. He created his sculptures in the barn and garden of their 18th century home and by 1954 had given up teaching to concentrate on his sculpture. Initially influenced by Moore and Hepworth in his early figures, he became known for his small lead figure groups and was between 1961 and 64 Gregory Fellow at the University of Leeds. Limbo is a gathering together of 26 lead pieces created from drawings and observations made in sketchbooks on family seaside holidays in Anglesey and Cornwall in the 1950's. One particular drawing, dating from the early 1950s, is marked as Limbo and Praa (a beach on the south coast of Cornwall) and some of the figures relate directly to those in this sculpture, which for many years was displayed in the family garden at Upper Poppleton, on the corner of the patio.