SEDGWICK, Jørgen Francis

c.1927 - 2008

Jørgen Francis Sedgwick was born in Copenhagen, Denmark around 1927, his birth is noted in the consular registers 1931-1935, son of George Russell Sedgwick (17 March 1900-1984), who was born in Manhattan, USA, and his wife Inger Hordis née Nordholt (17 March 1899-1985), who was born in Denmark, who married at St Giles, London in 1927. Jørgen was brought up in Denmark by his grandparents and his mother Inger, the ‘Voice of Denmark’ worked at Bush House in London and broadcast to a Denmark when under Nazi occupation and in 1939 was an artist, sculptor, wood carver and draughtsman living at 6 Chatsworth Road, Ealing, London. After the Second World War, in 1946 Jørgen settled in London where he studied at Regent Street Polytechnic and Beckenham Schools of Art 1948-1952. He taught in various colleges and art schools, including Central St Martin’s and Croydon College of Art & Design. He married at Bromley, Kent in 1951, Christine Sykes, Christine Sedgwick, and they latterly lived at Lytton Cottage, The Street, Holton St Peter, Halesworth, Suffolk. Sedgwick’s style developed continuously throughout his life and in 1959 he completed a life-size statue of the 6-year-old son, who was killed in 1944, of shipping magnate Cecil Crosthwaite. In the 1950s he studied earth, rocks, tree roots and their spatial possibilities which took him towards abstraction, this period is characterised by earthy colours and by an experimentation with texture which saw him including sand with his pigments. The foundation of the Alpha Group in 1967 saw Sedgwick participate in several shows with other members of the group, Michael Browett, John Macleod, Malcolm MacLeod and Rosemary Smith. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy also showing at many London galleries including the Woodlands Gallery, Walker Art Galleries, New Bond Street, Felix Gallery, Regent's Park, provincial shows included the Warwick Gallery, Birmingham also international galleries. Sedgwick’s work had become much more colourful and harder edged and his interest in myths and legends apparent but by the 1980s his focus had shifted towards the sea and the influence of the East Anglian landscape becomes evident in his work. Printmaking was also a love of his throughout his career and Sedgwick was a talented printmaker and in the 1960s he worked with etchings and aquatints, in the 70s he preferred relief prints. Jørgen Francis Sedgwick, who lived at Halesworth, Suffolk died in hospital on 9 December 2008, aged 81 and his funeral service was at Gorleston crematorium in Norfolk ten days later. Halesworth Gallery had a Sedgwick Retrospective exhibition in 2010, where he was a regular exhibitor, the exhibition also included works by Jorgen’s wife Christine and the prints & drawings by their daughter (Josephine) Anna Sedgwick (born 1952). Jorgen was highly regarded both in Britain and in his native Denmark.

Royal Academy Exhibits
from Studio 4, 95a Clifton Hill, London
1953 641 Christine
from 28 Harold Road, London SE 19
1955 573 Nude
1956 92 Nude
from 103 Nunhead Lane, London SE 15
1964 451 Treeform
from 330 Upland Road, London SE 22
1984 351 Pony

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Works by This Artist