Benson Landes

Bronze sculpture of an elegant young ballet dancer by Benson Landes 'Hammock'

For Benson Landes, sculpture was most definitely a passion. His oeuvre of cast bronzes is populated with “off-duty” ballet dancers, rather wistful women, often caught in moments of solitary repose. Such an obvious appreciation of the grace and elegance of the female form was, no doubt, heightened by 25 years spent in the couture business, which Landes entered at the age of 14.

The sculptor admitted that his time as an apprentice at his father’s clothing workroom and factory was given rather reluctantly, as he always harbored desires to become an artist. The young boy’s sense of responsibility was clearly equal to his creativity, though, as Landes knuckled down and learned the family trade. At the age of 18, however, a two-year conscription to the RAF provided one of the few opportunities for Landes to experience artistic freedom. The possibilities of otherwise unobtainable materials such as pastels, paper, perspex and plaster of paris fuelled his ingenuity at the base’s well-stocked workshop.

On completion of his RAF service, Landes briefly returned to the clothing factory now owned by his father. After his marriage to Ruth at 21, in an effort to provide for his new wife, Landes decided to set up his own business. Starting with a single sewing machine and tailoress, Landes and Ruth soon expanded the business. By the 1970s they employed over 50 staff and supplied to prestigious stores such as Dickens & Jones and Harrods.

As the decade progressed, however, fashion turned toward less structured, more casual garments; a trend that prompted Landes to retire and spend time with his first love, sculpture. Buoyed by the liberty he enjoyed in his studio, Landes succeeded in selling some of his first pieces of sculpture, a collection of sporting trophies shown at the 1981 Open Golf Championship, to Garrards, the Crown Jewellers. This success quickly brought important contacts and new commissions.

Landes always maintained that being able to work as a sculptor is a unique privilege. Usually in the company of a model, he often worked in the studio against the soothing background of classical music. Indeed, now eminently collectable, Landes’s work provided much comfort after the death of Ruth. Landes said that the things that mattered in life are those of beauty; he truly believed that romance and elegance are necessary shields to what he saw as the sometimes too hurried manner of life today.

Landes sadly passed away in the autumn of 2013.

Find original Benson Landes sculptures on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Callaghan's of Shrewsbury)