Patrick Comerford
We were in the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in central Milton Keynes on a recent Sunday for Choral Evensong, when I noticed two large papier-mâché relief sculptures by the Viennese-born British artist Willi Soukop.
The first work, Chaos, is a monumental papier-mâché relief sculpture by Willi Soukop, showing the turmoil of life in contrast with the serenity of the serenity of the three figures in the second work.
In the second work over the entrance to the chapel, Soukop depicts three dramatic figures at the foot of the Cross of Christ: his mother the Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist or the Beloved Disciple. These three powerful, expressive and slightly haunting yet serene figures may also represent mourning or desperation, and they capture Soukop’s characteristic expressive, modern style.
Both works are made in papier-mâché, which Soukop used extensively throughout his career. He also worked in wood, metal and stone in the production of many pieces that portrayed compassionate and tender religious themes. These works are on view inside the lobby of the church and are on loan from the artist’s son, Michael Soukop. Willi Soukop also sculpted the wooden Madonna and Christ Child in the chapel at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone.
Because of the unique architectural layout of the church, the lobby and entrance areas are spacious and airy and are open to the public frequently. As a result, the lobby and entrance serve as a non-traditional community art space for surprising, contemporary displays in the heart of Milton Keynes.
The sculptor Willi Soukop (1907-1995) was a Royal Academician, and an early teacher of Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993). Through his long career he pursued a very individual vision and he refused to identify with any ‘-ism’ in art. He was born Wilhelm Josef Soukop in Vienna on 5 January 1907 to an Austrian mother and a Czech father. His father, who had been wounded in World War I, died by suicide in 1919, leaving his wife to cope with Willi and two other children.
He began studying drawing at night and became an apprentice engraver. To supplement the pittance he earned as an apprentice, he worked nights carving umbrella handles and ivory boxes for a local trader. In time he could afford to study sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna under Josef Müllner.
Soukop was invited to Devon to escape the political and economic misery of Vienna and came to Dartington near Totnes in 1934. There he worked in a studio at Dartington Hall, where Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst had created a centre for the arts. European exiles there included the Jooss Ballet from Germany, Michael Chekhov and his drama school, and Bernard Leach and his son David, the potter.
The artist and gallery-owner Eardley Knollys of Storran Gallery gave Soukop his first one-man show in 1938.
Soukop was classified as an alien during World War II, and was first interned at Aintree racecourse, then sent to Canada, where he was held for nine months. On his release, he returned to Dartington and in 1945 he married Simone Michelle Moser (1916-1993), who had gone with him to Canada. The French dancer, teacher and choreographer became one of the finest performers and teachers of the Leeder system of modern dance in Britain.
Soukop became Art Master at Blundell’s School, where he set up the sculpture department. He also set up sculpture departments at Bryanston School, Dorset, and Downs School, Worcestershire, and taught at Bromley, Guildford and Chelsea Schools of Art.
His students at Guildford included Dame Elisabeth Frink, who followed him to Chelsea. Her work can be seen throughout Milton Keynes and includes the Black Horse, outside Lloyds Bank at the corner of Lloyds Court, near the corner of Secklow Gate and Silbury Boulevard.
Soukop was appointed to the additional position of Master of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in 1969 and he became a member of the faculty of the British School in Rome. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1935 and was elected a full member (RA) in 1969.
He received many commissions, both for portrait busts and larger pieces for public buildings. He exhibited widely, including ‘Sculpture in the Open Air’, Battersea Park (1949, 1950), many Arts Council exhibitions, Biennales and an exhibition in the Yehudi Menuhin School and University College Swansea.
His sculpture was commissioned for many public spaces, including the Elmington Estate in Camberwell, Loughborough University and the University of Hull, and his well-known Donkey sculpture, first executed at Dartington, was recast for Pittmans Field, Harlow, Essex. His work is in UK public collections including Abbot Hall, the Ben Uri Collection, the Red House, Aldeburgh, the Royal Academy of Arts, Tate, and the University of South Wales Art collection.
‘My life was never planned, it just happened,’ Willi Soukop once said.
Simone died in in London on 27 June 1993, leaving a son and a daughter; Willi died in Glasgow on 8 February 1995.
The two pieces displayed in the lobby of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes are there by courtesy of Dr Michael Soukop and his wife who generously allowed the works to remain after a visit to the city in 1996. At the time they were looking for a permanent home for the collection that remained after Willi Soukop’s death.
The Church of Christ the Cornerstone is the first ecumenical city-centre church in Britain and is a shared space for five denominations: Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist and United Reformed. Chaos and the Three Figures at the Foot of the Cross can be seen in the public lobby, usually open seven days a week, Monday to Saturdays from 8 am to 8 pm, with varying hours on Sundays. The chapel, with Soukop’s wooden Madonna and Christ Child, is open daily for private prayer and meditation.
