Self Portrait: The Eyes Within

About the Book

This book charts the extraordinary life and career of sculptor, artist, and designer William Mitchell, whose creative energy and technical innovation shaped public art for more than eight decades.

The book covers key highlights of his life and work:

• Mitchell’s instinct for colour, texture, and composition which influenced his lifelong commitment to transforming everyday environments through art.
• His inventive surface treatments and finishes drew widespread attention and led to major architectural collaborations.
• Landmark public commissions including creating the iconic bronze doors and Portland Stone frontispiece for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral; the Stations of the Cross at Clifton Cathedral; and the Grade II listed Corn King and Spring Queen at Wexham. Nine of his works are now Grade II listed which is more than any other British artist.
• Mitchell’s international influence, including in Qatar where he designed dramatic landscaped environments and palace interiors.
• High‑profile collaborations and controversies including producing the much-debated Michael Jackson statue for Fulham FC, later shortlisted for a Public Monuments and Sculpture Association award.

Richly illustrated and filled with personal stories, Self Portrait presents Mitchell as a relentless creative force, With a great sense of humorous, he was driven by an enduring belief that art should enrich the world around us. It's a brilliant and inspiring story.

About the Author :

William Mitchell was a sculptor, artist and designer whose creative energy and technical innovation shaped public art for more than eight decades.

Review :
'...Self Portrait: The Eyes Within is the result of his mining of eight decades' worth of memories and recording a wealth of anecdotes, experiences and observations for posterity. Brought to life by charming new, cartoon-like illustrations that perfectly fit the personal tone of the book, Mitchell reveals himself not just to be an accomplished innovator, experimenter and sculptor, but a lively and entertaining storyteller with plenty to say about art, life education and society. ...a weighty, glossy, hardback tome... ... Although much of his surviving work in this country is grounded in the British post-war building boom of everyday buildings...the book is as much a journey across the world as a guide to Mitchell's work, describing stints in Australia, Rome, the Middle East, the United States, Hawaii and Paris. ...an overall picture of the man and an emphasis on good design that runs through his personnal and professional life'. The Shrieking Violet '...it is the insight behind, and explanation of, the development of the various decorative techniques he has used that will be the long-lasting benefit of this book. This is a fascinating insight into the working life of a unique decorative concrete sculptor. It provides the background, insight and wherewithal and the actual works are there to be visited and examined'. Concrete '...the life of William George Mitchell has been a richly lived and full affair. ...it offers not only an insight into the workings of one of this country's least known, yet most prolific and gifted of sculptors, but also allows for a timely and welcome opportunity to reassess his astonishing body of work. ...this absorbing book... ...it's the sheer breadth and variety of Mitchell's oeuvre... The range of materials, styles, processes and techniques that he developed (and in many cases invented) to enable him to give expression to his vision, combined with a keen eye for pattern and form, resulted in some of the most distinctive works of the period. ...this excellent book can only add to the growing clamour for his much deserved and belated recognition'. The Modernist