A quiet talent....

I had intended to do a small piece about Stephen Gilbert but I have put that on hold to share my enthusiasm and admiration for his wife, Jocelyn Chewett. Born in Canada but moved to England in 1913, she entered the Slade in 1924 where she studied sculpture. To Paris in 1931 where she worked for two years in Zadkine's atelier. With Zadkine she developed her carving skills, 'taille directe', the chisels she bought with Zadkine she used all her life. In 1933 she married Stephen Gilbert, a painter she had met at the Slade. To Ireland during the war where they were associated with The White Stag Group and returning to Paris in 1946 where they established and shared studios in Montparnasse. remaining for the rest of their lives.

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Jocelyn had walked away from the opportunity to work in Brancusi's atelier in preference for Zadkine's but her work was always infused with Brancusi's sculptural propositions. Her contemplative work deals with the subtle displacement of form and volume often combined with a clever juxtaposition of materials. It is an unfortunate fact that many talented female artists in creative partnerships become adjuncts to their partners, their talents shaded, to an extent this happened to Jocelyn but she continued with her lifelong practice and exhibited her work, building a modest reputation amongst the cognoscenti, the Sainsbury Centre have an impressive  collection of her work.