Sculpture of local lady Anne Lister in the Piece Hall in Halifax, the bronze sculpture called Contemplation is the work of Diane Lawrenson,
Anne Lister (1791–1840), was a wealthy English diarist, businesswoman and independent landowner, living at Shibden Hall in Calderdale, West Yorkshire she often took long trips abroad and was renowned in her time for dressing always in black without bothering to indulge in feminine frills, she had many long-term lesbian affairs and became known to locals as ‘Gentleman Jack’ because of her lifestyle,
as soon as I saw this I suspected it was by the same sculptor who did the Lady Anne Clifford in Kirkby Stephen - and I was right. Now there's no doubt this is art - but in both sculptures I feel there is far too much romanticism and not enough of their mental "steel"
Before I read your description, Peter, I thought this woman was deep in thought. So, yes, "Contemplation." A nice sculpture and a great write-up about her life. (By the way, I find it tricky to capture sculptures- I fuss about what angle to take the shot from, so I like your angle, Peter :-) Fav
@anniesue You are absolutely right Annie-Sue both sculptures clearly Diane Lawrenson’s work, l think they show the two powerful ladies both born before their time off well:)
@365projectorgheatherb Many thanks Heather for you wonderful comment and Fav as always it’s appreciated, this perspective was almost forced upon me with tables and chairs of a café to my left and a bandstand to my right not to mention the angle of the sun causing harsh shades on the status, lol:)
@onewing Thanks Babs for your lovely comment, the BBC has produce a two drama series about Anne’s extraordinary life based on the decryption of Anne’s diaries by Helen Whitbread:)
