GODWIN, Keith

1916 - 1991

Keith Godwin was born at 22 Welbeck Street, Worksop, Nottinghamshire on 17 April 1916, son of Frederick Fuller Godwin (1887-24 March 1927), a colliery worker, and his wife Ida née Tindale (2 April 1886-7 December 1959), who married at Worksop in 1914. Keith was educated at Burns' Lane Higher School and Brunts School at Mansfield and studied at Mansfield Art School 1934-1935, Nottingham College of Art and Crafts 1935-1936, Leicester School of Art 1936-1939, and sculpture at the Royal College of Art 1939-1940. In 1939 he was an art student, living at 12 Appleton Street, Worksop with his widowed mother Ida, a part-time librarian and elementary school teacher, and his brother Mark, who was articled to an architect. In 1941, although a conscientious objector when he stated, 'that he could not take life and applied for entry into the Auxiliary Fire Service at Fulham', Keith spent the next five years in the Royal Air Force Intelligence Service before returning to the Royal College of Art 1946-1948, where he won their silver medal in 1947 and their travelling scholarship in 1948. Head of Sculpture at Hammersmith College of Art 1957-1967 then at Manchester Polytechnic 1967-1981 and was head of fine arts 1979-1981. He exhibited sculptures at the Royal Academy and at the Royal Society of British Artists, of which he was a member, and at the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. His commissions included a sculpture for the Manchester Evening News 1971 and work for the Reed Paper Group, British Rail, and the Commonwealth Institute. He married at Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1942, Ethel Mary Holloway (2 December 1917-15 April 2013) and had two sons, Christopher and Anthony. Keith Godwin lived at Sudbury in Suffolk where he died in 1991 and a memorial show was held at the Woodland Art Gallery, Glasgow the following year.

Royal Academy Exhibits
from Flat 2, 10 The Glebe, Blackheath, London
1955 1318 Model Undressing - statuette, cement
1956 1363 The Lost Man - cement
1957 1361 Doubting Thomas - statue, cement

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Works by This Artist