Muriel Joyce Bidder (5 January 1906 – 26 February 1999) was an English sculptor. Over a long career, she created works in a variety of materials.
Bidder was born at Wimbledon in south-west London and studied at the Wimbledon School of Art, where she was taught by the sculptor Stanley Nicholson Babb. [1] [2]
In 1933, she met Daisy Borne, whom she taught to carve. [1] The two set up a studio together at Wimbledon and became life-long companions. [1] Bidder worked in a variety of materials, including bronze, green slate, marble, terracotta, stone and wood to produce statuettes, group figures and reliefs. [3] She often worked in woods such as walnut, Spanish chestnut, oak and mahogany. [3] Her subjects included sporting events, such as the sculpture group Tackled, and depictions of labourers at work. [4]
Bidder regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy in London between 1931 and 1957, and between 1933 and 1971 showed a total of 65 pieces with the Society of Women Artists. [3] [5] She was elected an Associate of the Society of Women Artists in 1949 and became a full member two years later. She was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. [1] [3]
Examples of her work appeared in the 1986 exhibition Sculpture in Britain Between the Wars, organised by the Fine Art Society, which hosted a joint exhibition of work by her and Borne in 1987. [1] [4]
1 artwork by or after Joyce Bidder at the Art UK site