Anita Mandl 1926-2022

Primarily a carver, in both wood and stone, Mandl would translate what she considered to be her best works into bronze so that they could be more widely collected.

Born in Czechoslovakia Mandl came to England by Kindertransport in 1939 aged just thirteen. She studied anatomy at the University of Birmingham gaining a PhD and working closely with zoologist Lord Zuckerman. Later she met and worked alongside her husband Dr Denys Jennings studying the potential cell mutation in the event of nuclear war and later researched cancers.  

Whilst at Birmingham Mandl enrolled on an evening course to study sculpture and when she moved to Devon in the 60s decided to focus on making sculpture full time. Mandl’s deep knowledge of anatomy informed her works which beautifully balance an acute sense of the very nature of a species with her material.