Person    | Male  Born 6/4/1921  Died 5/7/2000

Franta Belsky

Categories: Sculpture

Countries: Czechoslovakia

Born Czechoslovakia as Frantisek Belsky. Fled 3 times, twice to escape the Nazis and then again from the Communists. Ornamental Passions we learn that all Belsky's sculptures contain an empty Guinness bottle, the day's newspaper, a sixpence and a note stating that he was the artist.

Other works in London: the 1957 Shell fountain in front of the Shell Building on the South Bank and The Lesson in Bethnal Green.

From Radio Prague International: "He served in the Battle of France, was twice mentioned in the dispatches during the war and saw Winston Churchill at an inspection after the evacuation at Dunkirk. .. After the war, Bělský returned to Czechoslovakia and studied sculpting. However, his studies were disrupted when Bělský escaped Czechoslovakia a second time after the Communist coup d’etat in 1948, but he soon found himself learning again, this time at the Royal College of Art in London. The artist’s first major commission came at the Festival of Britain in 1951. ... Bělský became the official sculptor of the royal family, creating the busts of Queen Elizabeth II, as well as of the princes Philip, William, Andrew and the queen mother."

2023: English Radio CZ has a very informative interview with Bohumil Vostal, the author of a book about Belsky "He Portraited the Queen of England".

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This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Franta Belsky

Creations i

Cunningham bust

Unveiled by Prince Philip in 1967. Inside the bust there is a ½ pint Guinness...

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Mountbatten statue

9 foot 5 inches, bronze on a plinth at the centre of a low stepped platform. ...

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Tattersall's auction yard

This sculpture 'Triga' recalls the racehorses that were bought and sold on th...

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Other Subjects

Walenty Pytel

Walenty Pytel

Leading metal sculptor of birds and beasts. Born Poland and came to England aged 5. His Wikipedia page and his own website show a number of other works, which have a lovely sense of joy and lightness.

Person, Sculpture, Poland

1 memorial
Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Sculptor.  Born Dublin to a French father and Irish mother.  The family emigrated to New York when Augustus was a baby.  Studied in America and Europe.  Very successful as a monumental sculptor and...

Person, Sculpture, Ireland, USA

1 memorial
Bruce Denny

Bruce Denny

Sculptor. Born in Suffolk.

Person, Sculpture

1 memorial
Katherine Worthington

Katherine Worthington

Stone carver and sculptor.

Person, Craft / Design, Sculpture

1 memorial
Wilfred Dudeney

Wilfred Dudeney

Ornamental Passions reports on another of his works nearby at Pemberton House, Pemberton Row EC4.  And more, here.

Person, Sculpture

1 memorial

Previously viewed

World War 1

World War 1

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Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

403 memorials
Metropolitan Police

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13 memorials
Francis Bird

Francis Bird

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Person, Sculpture

4 memorials
London County Council

London County Council

Prior to the LCC London matters were run by church parishes. The LCC was the first directly elected strategic local government body for London. Replaced by the Greater London Council, covering a la...

Group, Politics & Administration

284 memorials
Highgate United Reform Church war memorial

Highgate United Reform Church war memorial

N6, Pond Square, Highgate United Reform Church, forecourt

2015: We read that the cross is being refurbished.  13 or 14 of these names are also on the nearby Highgate Camp memorial.  Two of the na...

War dead | WW1
28 subjects commemorated