Obituary
Lawrence Holofcener, Sculptor died on 4th March 2017 age 91. He enjoyed success as a Broadway actor, director and lyricist, but became better known in his later years as the sculptor responsible for ‘Allies’, a life-size public work featuring a bronze Winston Churchill chatting companionably on a park bench with Franklin D Roosevelt.
Holofcener came late to sculpture and was entirely self-taught, holding his first exhibition in 1979 in Charleston, South Carolina.
He specialised in traditional bronze portrait sculpture, his commissions including Faces of Olivier, a plaque showing Sir Laurence in 28 of his most famous roles, unveiled by the actor in 1985 at Chichester Festival Theatre; a statue of Queen Victoria for the Isle of Wight Museum; Faces of Golf sculpture at PGA National Resort and life-size portraits of Thomas Chatterton, William Tyndale and William Penn which were unveiled in Bristol in 2000 by the Prince of Wales.
But it was Allies, a tribute to one of the most important friendships of the 20th century, that really caught the public imagination, showing the relationship between wartime prime minister and president as one not of politics, but of easygoing cameraderie.
The work became a popular tourist attraction after it was unveiled in Bond Street by Princess Margaret in 1995 to commemorate 50 years of peace since the end of the war.
As soon as it was in position, people began seating themselves beside the figures to pose for photographs and the association decided to buy the work as a permanent attraction. Later, when the Catto Gallery commissioned Holofcener to create an edition of 50 quarter-size maquettes of the sculpture, they sold like hot cakes.
In 2003 Holofcener made a special journey to London to put a black sheet over his most famous sculpture and sat beside it during the Stop the War demonstrations. “I told passers-by: ‘This is a protest against the ‘special relationship’ that Bush and Blair have trashed’,” he explained. Lawrence Holofcener, born February 23 1926, died March 4 2017
For further information on the sculptor or his work, please contact Catto Gallery –
