About F. E. McWilliam
Frederick Edward McWilliam (30 April 1909 – 13 May 1992), was a Northern Irish surrealist sculptor. He worked chiefly in stone, wood and bronze. == Biography == McWilliam was born in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland, the son of Dr William McWilliam, a local general practitioner. Growing up in Banbridge had a great influence on his work. He made references to furniture makers such as Carson the Cooper and Proctors in his letters to his friend, Marjorie Burnett. He attended Campbell College in Belfast and later attended Belfast College of Art from 1926. After 1928, he continued to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He originally intended to become a painter, but influenced by A.H. Gerrard, Head of Sculpture at the Slade and by Henry Moore whom he met there, he turned to sculpture. He received the Robert Ross Leaving Scholarship which enabled him and his wife (Beth Crowther) to travel to Paris where he visited the studio of Brancusi. During the first year of the Second World War, he joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in England for four years where he was engaged in interpreting aerial reconnaissance photographs.
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