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Biography

Geoffrey Dashwood was born in Hampshire in 1947. At the age of fifteen he won a place on merit to study fine art at Southampton College of Art. Preferring an outdoor life and studying directly from nature he left the college soon after his arrival there.

For five years Dashwood worked for the Forestry Commission as a keeper in the New Forest, but after illustrating a New Forest guide for the Commission most of his time was soon taken up illustrating for them. He also began to illustrate for the Countryside Committee, Hampshire County Council and for various others. This work gave Dashwood the confidence to become a freelance artist and for the following ten years he concentrated on illustrations, drawings and watercolors.

In 1980 Dashwood discovered a preference for working with the three dimensions of sculpture. His first pieces were highly detailed and realistic studies echoing his earlier drawings. These sculptures were very much in the mainstream tradition of English wildlife and sporting art and comparable in style to the famous 19th century French animalier school of sculpture. Although commercially successful, Dashwood became increasingly dissatisfied with the restrictions of realism and lack of personal expression in his work.

Finally, Dashwood broke away from his early realistic style to create larger, boldly modeled sculptures, which were very unique as well as more personal interpretations of nature. Their individuality was further determined and enhanced by the application of original fine and multi-colored patinas. It is this style that Dashwood embraced and continues to develop today.

Over the last ten years Dashwood's sculpture has won much acclaim and many awards, including best sculpture at the Society of Wildlife Artists for three years in a row and also first prize for sculpture at the International Festival De L'Art Animalier in the Loire Valley of France. Additionally, Dashwood's unusual lifestyle and approach to art was the subject of a half-hour documentary film made by TVS. Many of his models have also been selected by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum for exhibition in their annual shows.

Dashwood's life-size sculpture was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition held at the Nature in Art Museum in Gloucestershire, England in July 1991. He was the first living artist the museum accorded with such an honor. In 1994 Daswood's Barn Owl was selected for the Royal Academy Summer Show and the entire edition sold out before the close of the exhibition. This accomplishment was followed by the enormous success of his 6 foot high Harrier, the first of his monumental pieces, in the 1996 show. In 2001 Dashwood had a retrospective show at the Lymington museum in southern England. His 7 ft. high Owl, which he completed in 1998, has been recently installed at the main entrance to the Financial Services authority building in canary wharf, London.

Dashwood's Bi-annual exhibitions at The Sladmore Gallery continue to create enormous excitement with entire editions of bronzes selling out in days. Our Sister gallery in New York, James Graham & Sons, Inc., continues to have success with their regular shows as well. In addition to exhibiting at The Sladmore Gallery and James Graham & Sons, Inc., Dashwood has had shows in Paris and the Far East. In 2001 he had an incredible response to his work at the first Moscow art fair, where massive crowds crammed into his stand. In 2002 his monumental Mandarin was selected by the Leigh Yawkey museum for an outdoor show.

For all this recognition and international acclaim, Dashwood would rather not attend any of his exhibitions in person. He is interested in the creation of his sculptures and is obsessive about the finish and attitude of each piece. Every little detail has to be perfect. Dashwood is probably happiest in his beloved New Forest with his dogs and a fishing rod. He stays away from galleries and ignores the white noise of the London Art world and the words of critics and dealers. Geoffrey Dashwood stubbornly ploughs a solitary furrow, which keeps his work fresh and immediate, unaffected by fashion, yet startlingly modern and 'now' in its finished simplicity.