Articles

April 2005 

Over the last 25 years, Horsham has been transformed by major investment. A key part of that has been the creation of public spaces adorned with works of art. Until 1990 Horsham did not have one piece of public art or sculpture. Then the ‘Swans’ of Swan Walk landed in its midst followed a year or so later by ‘Pirie’s Donkey and Cart’ and the ‘Roundels of Life’ on the War Memorial in the Carfax. Lastly in 2003, the remarkable Horsham Heritage Sundial was opened by HM the Queen: four different works of art created by Lorne McKean and Edwin Russell.

Lorne McKean and Edwin Russell were both born in 1939. Edwin attended the Brighton School of Art and Lorne went to Florence where Prince Serge Yourievitch, a contemporary and friend of Rodin, attracted by her modelling, gave her help and guidance. She then went on to Guildford School of Art. Lorne and Edwin went the Royal Academy schools where Edwin won the Gold Medal and the Edward Stott Travelling Scholarship and Lorne won the Silver Medal for Sculpture combined with Architecture, the Feodora Gleichen Scholarship and the Leverhulme Scholarship. On finishing their sculpture studies, Lorne and Edwin married and moved to a secluded valley in the heart of the Surrey hills near Hindhead. Their work can be seen in places far removed from their quiet, almost idyllic, setting where they create their masterpieces either working alone, in partnership with each other, or with apprentices and assistants.

Both artists have undertaken prestigious and very public work that reflect their ability to interpret, design and sculpt. Edwin’s work includes ‘St Michael’ carved in oak for St Paul’s Cathedral and Lorne a 27ft high sculpture ‘Bronze Birds’ in Leeds City Centre amongst many others.

Lorne whose love of and feeling for horses, together with her knowledge of them, has resulted in an outstanding body of work including the prestigious commission of ‘HRH Prince Philip on his Polo Pony’, HM the Queen’s personal silver wedding gift to her husband, as well as ‘Prince Charles on Pan’s Folly’, ‘Desert Orchid’ and racehorse ‘Troy’.

Edwin, although not specialising in sundials, has created some notable examples including the 1978 ‘Jubilee Dolphin Sundial’ at the Maritime Museum, Greenwich. In 1992 both Lorne’s ‘Swans’ in Horsham, and Edwin’s bronze panel and dial, ‘History of London’, on Tower Hill, were unveiled. ‘Pirie’s Donkey and Cart’ by Lorne and Edwin’s ‘Celebration of Life Roundels’ also featured in Horsham. In 2003 Lorne and Edwin worked together on the Horsham Heritage Sundial in the Blackhorse Way Forum, Horsham, assisted by another artist Damien Fennell. They produced a unique sundial. It is a three-dimensional, pierced bronze ring portraying aspects of Horsham District’s rich and varied heritage from dinosaurs to the present day, immortalised by a  quote from a work by of Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was born at Field Place near Horsham, inscribed on the sundial, ‘The One Remains the Many Change and Pass’.

Lorne McKean F.R.B.S. 

Public and large works
A.A. Milne Memorial, London Zoo
‘Girl and Swan’, Reading
Osprey Fountain, Greenwich, USA
‘Great Swan’, Great Swan Alley, EC2
‘Girl & Otter’ Fountain, London EC1
Swan Fountain, Horsham
Pirie’s Donkey and Cart Play Sculpture, Horsham
‘Flight’, 27” bronze, Leeds

Equestrian sculptures
‘HRH Prince Philip on his Polo Pony’
‘Prince Charles on his Polo Pony Pan’s Folly’
Pony series for Royal Worcester porcelain
Racehorse ‘Troy’, Royal Worcester
‘Desert Orchid’ bronze

Lorne McKean’s works include a portrait sculpture of HM the Queen and the late Prince William of Gloucester. She has also exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Edwin Russell F.R.B.S 

Public works
Suffragette Memorial, London
Lewis Carroll commemorative sculpture, ‘Alice and the White Rabbit’, Guildford
Panda, marble, WWF International HQ
Tower Hill ‘History of London, bronze panel and sundial 

Sculpture for churches
Crucifix, lime wood, St Paul’s Cathedral
St Catherine, lead, Westminster Abbey
St Michael, oak, St Paul’s Cathedral
Bishop Bubwith, west front, Wells Cathedral

Sundials
Jubilee Dolphin Sundial, Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 1978
Botanical Armillary Sundial, Kew Gardens, 1987
5m bronze dial, Parliament Square, Dubai, 1988
Forecourt Sculpture Sundial, Rank Xerox HQ, 1990

In 1986, Edwin Russell created the two metre high ‘Lion and Lamb’ teak carving in Farnham shopping centre, which won the Best Shopping Centre Award in 1987. Edwin won the Otto Beit medal for sculpture in 1991.