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▲ Willi Soukop RA (1907-1995) 'Head', a patinated bronze sculpture, signed 'Soukop', 19cm wide 20.5cm deep 40.5cm high Born in Vienna in 1907, to an Austrian mother and a Czech father, the young Wilhelm ('Willi') Soukop displayed a natural artistic talent, producing an accomplished chalk drawing of a tree, aged four. He went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, but when the political situation in Austria became darker ahead of the Second World War, Willi took up the offer of a sympathetic Englishwoman, who invited him to England to escape, at least for a few weeks. So it was that, in 1934, Soukop went to stay at Dartington Hall, near Totnes, in Devon. The Hall was owned by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst, who created a virtual international centre for the arts, providing refuge for many other émigrés from across Europe. Soukop was given the use of a studio and was able to carve, even sell, his work in a congenial atmosphere. Soukop had become settled in England and had no wish to return to Vienna, but war was approaching, and after the fall of France in 1940, he, like many others, was classified as an 'alien'. Interned first at Aintree racecourse, he was then shipped off to Canada, where he remained for nine months until he was released. Finally able to return to Devon, he was offered the job of Art Master at Blundell's School, where he set up the sculpture department so well, that the work created there was exhibited in London. He then set up other sculpture departments, first in Bryanston School in Dorset, and then the Downs School in Worcestershire. At the end of the war, Soukop moved to London and taught at Bromley, Guildford, and Chelsea Schools of Art - one of his pupils being Elisabeth Frink. In 1969, he accepted the additional position of Master of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools and became a member of the faculty for the British School in Rome. He received many commissions, both for portrait busts and larger pieces for public buildings. Over the years, he exhibited in numerous mixed shows, including 'Sculpture in the Open Air' at Battersea Park in 1949 and 1950, and many Arts Council exhibitions and Biennales.