Beginning in 1961, Michael Ayrton wrote and created many works associated with the myths of the Minotaur and Daedalus, the legendary inventor and maze builder, including bronze sculpture and the pseudo-autobiographical novel "The Maze Maker" (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967).
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His work is in several important collections including the Tate Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery, London, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Fry Art Gallery, Essex.
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He was at the centre of a brilliant literary and intellectual circle including Michael Ayrton, Sacheverell Sitwell and Anthony Powell, and despite Powell's denial, he is often said to be the prototype of the character Hugh Moreland in Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time.
Alongside works by artists of international reputation such as Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A., Lynn Chadwick R.A., Kenneth Armitage R.A., Michael Ayrton and Antony Gormley R.A., Peter Randall-Page, the Jerwood Sculpture collection included works by emerging artists who had won the Jerwood Sculpture Prize.
At the height of their acclaim they courted a large circle of friends - including Michael Ayrton, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and John Minton as well as the poets George Barker and Dylan Thomas - and were renowned for their parties at their studio (77 Bedford Gardens).
Long-term friends of Henry Moore and Elisabeth Frink, Wilfred and Jeannette sold their own personal collection of Moores, Frinks and Ayrtons, which they had bought directly from these artists, to fund the creation of their park.