WORKS and mementoes from a famous sculptor’s time in Dorset are on show in a much-anticipated new exhibition.

Elisabeth Frink: A View from Within has now opened at Dorset Museum and Art Gallery in Dorchester.

The exhibition features works created when Dame Elisabeth lived in large country house Woolland, near Blandford, from 1976 until her death in 1993. In that time she created more than 400 sculptures.

Lucy Johnston, co-curator and museum exhibition manager, said: “This is an exhibition of Frink’s life and work in Dorset.

“Woolland was a ramshackle home in sunken lanes. She and her husband made it their home for the last 30 years of their lives.”

Dame Elisabeth is one of the most celebrated sculptors of recent times and became the first female sculptor to be elected as a Royal Academician in 1973.

She shared her Dorset home with husband, Alex Csáky, and they populated the space with paintings and sculpture.

“Alex was her third husband – a lot of people say it was her happiest marriage. She was very happy at Woolland and it was a very happy productive place,” Lucy said.

There are more than 80 sculptures, drawings and prints in the exhibition, which recreates Dame Elisabeth’s Dorset and features her tools and the working plasters. There is also music playing that she would have listened to in her studio.

Dorset Echo: Seated Man Seated Man (Image: NQ)

Among the highlights are Seated Man, which was on display by the swimming pool at Woolland.

Also on show is Walking Madonna, the only female sculpture that Frink ever created.

The figure is presented as stilled by thought but walking with resolute purpose.

“The Walking Madonna isn’t giving up. A lot of Dame Elisabeth’s themes are very resonant with what’s going on in the world,” Lucy says.

Each part of the exhibition space has different coloured backgrounds, with a green space representing the sculptor’s garden where she was able to display her work for the first time.

Dorset Echo: Elisabeth Frink: A View from Within Elisabeth Frink: A View from Within (Image: NQ)

There is also a video screen showing archive footage from Woolland, where Dame Elisabeth developed new ways of working in plaster on a scale ranging from intimate to monumental, creating sculptures that expressed her feelings about humanity and our relationship with animals.

Dame Elisabeth died at Woolland on April 18 1993 aged 62, shortly after the death of Alex.

The exhibition opens today, Saturday, December 2 and continues to April 21 at the Dorset Museum and Art Gallery on High West Street in Dorchester.

Dorset Museum offers an Unlimited Ticket valid for a whole year from the date of purchase.