The Chelsea Society was represented by its Vice-chairman, Michael Stephen, at a Memorial Service to celebrate the life of William Fawke, a well-known Chelsea Sculptor, on Friday, 5th April 2019 at St. Luke’s Church,
William died from cancer in August 2018 at the age of 70. He was a sculptor commissioned to make public statues, and had lived in Chelsea since his early twenties. He had a studio at Chelsea Farm Studios in Milmans Street. Whilst William needed more space for large works, he was determined to stay in the borough which had inspired him all his life. He worked next to the late Theo Ramos, portrait painter, whose studio was next door to him.
William’s first major exhibition of sculpture was at the Chelsea Town Hall for the Chelsea Festival in 1982, and his portrait busts were well received. He also exhibited at the Cork Street Gallery in Bond Street, and the Albemarle Gallery. The nearest of his sculptures to Chelsea is of Thomas Cubitt at the junction of Denbigh St and St. George’s Drive in Pimlico, unveiled by the Duke of Westminster in 1995. There is a replica of this in Dorking, opposite his statue of Vaughan-Williams.
Pimlico Dorking Dorking
William also made statues of Dr Samuel Johnson, and Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Other works including many portrait busts (one of Manolo Blahnik the shoe-maker), and much of his own figurative and decorative work can be seen on William’s web-site www.willfawke.com
William was a Committee Member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
