Erica Lee facts for kids

Erica Lee (1888–1981) was a talented British artist and sculptor. She was especially known for creating detailed portrait heads and busts. She worked as an artist for almost 60 years.

Discovering Erica Lee: A British Sculptor

Erica Lee was an important British sculptor who lived from 1888 to 1981. She spent her life creating beautiful art. Her main focus was making sculptures of people's heads and upper bodies.

Her Early Life and Art Training

Erica Lee was born in 1888 in Prestwich, which is in Lancashire, England. Today, this area is part of Greater Manchester. When she decided to become an artist, she moved to London. There, she studied sculpture under two famous artists. Her teachers were Edwin Whitney Smith and Sir William Reid Dick.

Creating Art in Her London Studio

After her training, Erica Lee set up her own art studio. It was in the St John's Wood area of London. For nearly six decades, she worked as a professional sculptor. She made many different types of art.

• Heads and Busts: These are sculptures of a person's head or their head and chest.
• Portrait Reliefs: These are sculptures that are raised from a flat background. They show a person's face.
• Materials: She often used bronze and terracotta. Bronze is a strong metal. Terracotta is a type of baked clay.

Erica Lee also created memorials and grave markers. One special grave marker she made was for a relative, the artist Sydney Lee.

Exhibiting Her Sculptures

Erica Lee was very active in the art world. She showed her sculptures in many important places. This helped her become well-known.

• Royal Scottish Academy: She often exhibited her art in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts: Her work was also shown in Glasgow, Scotland.
• Walker Art Gallery: She displayed her art in Liverpool, England.
• Paris Salon: This was a very famous art show in Paris, France. In 1930, she even won an Honourable mention there.

Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Erica Lee showed a lot of her work. She displayed 43 pieces at the Royal Academy in London. She also exhibited 18 sculptures with the Society of Women Artists.

Important Art Groups

Erica Lee was recognized by major art organizations. She became a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. This means she was a respected member of this important group. She was also chosen to be part of the Societe des Artistes Francais in France. These memberships showed how talented and respected she was as an artist.