Famous British Sculptors

English sculptor, artist, and photographer Andy Goldsworthy has revolutionized outdoor art by creating masterpieces with naturally available material such as rain, snow, and rocks. A farm laborer in his younger days, he developed an early love for nature and the elements. Rain Shadows remains one of his best-loved works.

Best known for his abstract bronze and stone sculptures, Henry Moore is also renowned for his many nudes, such as the 1930 sculpture Reclining Woman. Born to a coal miner and trade unionist father, he was pushed into a teaching career initially but later turned to art and eventually rediscovered modernism.

Steve McQueen is a British filmmaker and video artist best known for his film 12 Years a Slave. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, making him the first black filmmaker to win the award. He is also a prominent visual artist and a recipient of the Turner Prize, the highest award given to a British visual artist. 

English sculptor and printer Eric Gill first gained attention with his work Mother and Child. Apart from co-founding the St. Dominic’s Press, he also contributed to the illustrations and woodcuts for The Four Gospels. He was also infamous form his deviant sexual behavior, which included incest and animal abuse.

Born in India, sculptor Anish Kapoor initially studied engineering in Israel but soon quit his studies to study art in Britain. The Turner Prize-winning artist was the first living artist to earn a solo show at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. The Cloud Gate in Chicago remain his best-loved work.

Sculptor Antony Gormley is best known for his human forms, most of which he creates using his own naked form. The Turner Prize-winning artist had initially studied history and archaeology but later turned to art. His best-known works include Angel of the North and Three Ways: Mould, Hole and Passage.

The founder of the London-based architecture firm Heatherwick Studio, Thomas Heatherwick is best known for his works such as the Seed Cathedral for the 2010 Shanghai Expo’s UK Pavilion and the 2012 Olympic Cauldron. A descendant of the owners of fashion brand Jaeger, he studied 3-D design and revolutionized architecture.

Born to Italian immigrants, Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi is best known for revolutionizing pop art with his unique artwork that makes use of materials such as magazines, bottles, and even boxes. His works include sculptures, collages, and prints. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Chris Ofili is a British painter best known for such works that have been created using elephant dung as part of their creation. His paintings earned him the prestigious Turner Prize in 1998. Chris Ofili, whose work has been categorized as punk art, also utilizes cut-outs from porn magazines, glitter, beads, resin, and oil paint as painting elements.

George Frederic Watts was a British painter best remembered for his association with the Symbolist movement. Watts achieved fame for his allegorical works like Love and Life and Hope. In addition to being a painter, George Frederic Watts was also a sculptor. He is credited with sculpting the famous Physical Energy statue at Rhodes Memorial in South Africa.

Jacob Epstein was an American-British sculptor who produced revolutionary works that challenged the already established ideas that dictated the kind of artworks shown to the public. Epstein helped pioneer modern sculpture. In addition to being a sculptor, Epstein was also a painter and artist; he exhibited many of his paintings and drawings. His works have influenced artists like Barbara Hepworth.

Marc Quinn is a British visual artist best known for his works that incorporate installation, painting, and sculpting. Quinn is best known for producing works that explore the nature of humans in today's world through subjects like genetics, environment, human body, identity, and the media. An internationally celebrated artist, Quinn has received several prestigious awards so far in his career.

The first female recipient of the Turner Prize, sculptor Rachel Whiteread is best known for her work House. Her signature style includes portraying the negative spaces around objects. She is also known for her use of graph paper and is part of the Young British Artists movement.

Sarah Lucas is an English artist who was one of the most important members of the popular visual artists' group, Young British Artists. She is best known for incorporating found objects, collage, and photography in her works to employ bawdy humor and visual puns. Her works often highlight the absurdity of society and question conventions.

Edwin Landseer was an English sculptor and painter best remembered for incorporating animals as subjects in his works. Landseer is credited with sculpting the famous lion sculptures that form a part of the base of Nelson's Column in the City of Westminster, Central London.

Tony Cragg is a British sculptor who is based in Germany. He studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London. Early in his career, he presented assemblages in primary structures and created colorful reliefs on the floors and walls of gallery spaces. He has since held several internayional exhibitions and represented Britain at the 43rd Venice Biennale. 

Anthony Caro was an English sculptor whose work incorporates the usage of metals, especially found industrial objects. Considered the greatest English sculptor of his generation, Caro won several prestigious awards and prizes, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sculpture. Also an educator, Caro taught at Saint Martin's School of Art, inspiring a generation of abstract sculptors like Phillip King.

Peter Randall-Page is a British sculptor and artist best known for his works that draw inspiration from nature's geometric patterns. Through his work, Randall-Page conveys his ideology that nature depends on geometry to produce the most sophisticated and complex designs. Peter Randall-Page's stone sculptures can be seen all over England.

Elisabeth Frink was an English printmaker and sculptor. She survived World War II as a young girl and studied at the Guildford School of Art. Her artwork was greatly influenced by her wartime experiences. She quickly gained popularity for her bronze outdoor sculpture. She was made a full academician at the Royal Academy in 1979. 

John Flaxman was a British sculptor. He was a key figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Largely self-educated, he began his career as a modeler for potter Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He then began sculpting grave monuments and earned a reputation as a prolific maker of funerary monuments. He was married to Anne Denman, who assisted him throughout his career. 

Eileen Agar was a British-Argentinian photographer and painter best remembered for her association with the Surrealist movement. In 1936, Agar became the only woman to exhibit her works at the International Surrealist Exhibition in London after her work was recommended by Paul Nash to the organizers of the exhibition, Herbert Read and Roland Penrose.

Gary Hume is an English artist best known for his association with Young British Artists. A popular artist, Gary Hume represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1999. In the exhibition, Hume showcased his famous Water series. In 1997, he was honored with Great Britain's prestigious Jerwood Painting Prize.

Hamo Thornycroft was an English sculptor who was the leading figure in the New Sculpture movement. He is credited to have made some of London's best-known statues and was a keen student of classical sculpture. He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1880. He received the medal of honor at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. 

Frederick Scott Archer was an English sculptor and photographer best remembered for his invention of a photographic process called the collodion process. His invention enhanced the accessibility of photography for the public. Unfortunately, Scott Archer died impoverished as he failed to patent his discovery before publishing it. As a sculptor, he displayed his works at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Lynn Chadwick was an English artist and sculptor best remembered for his semi-abstract sculptures. With no formal training in sculpting, Chadwick began his career as a sculptor by welding in an innovative and unique way. In 1956, he exhibited at the Venice Biennale and won the International prize for sculpture. Today, Lynn Chadwick’s work is exhibited all over the world.

Eleanor Coade was a British businesswoman known for her astute entrepreneurial, business, and marketing skills. She manufactured Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations, and garden ornaments. She created stoneware for many famous buildings, including St George's Chapel, The Royal Pavilion, Brighton, and Carlton House. She was one of the few women to run a highly successful business in the Georgian era. 

Barry Flanagan was an Irish-Welsh sculptor best known for his bronze statues of animals, especially hares. He studied architecture at Birmingham College of Art and Crafts and sculpture at Saint Martin's School of Art. He went on to pursue a successful career as a sculptor and also taught sculpture and architecture at the Central School of Art and Design.  

Alphonse Legros was a painter, sculptor, etcher, and medalist. He played a major role in accentuating the re-emergence of etching by serving as a teacher of etching at institutions like the South Kensington School of Art and University College London. He is credited with teaching several female artists like the Casella sisters, who were later recognized as the Slade Girls.

George Frampton was a British sculptor and one of the most important members of the New Sculpture movement. A much-respected sculptor, Frampton was often asked to oversee the work of other sculptors. George Frampton is also credited with creating several war memorials, including the Edith Cavell Memorial, after the First World War. He also created many statues of Queen Victoria.

Francis Leggatt Chantrey was an English sculptor who produced several statues and busts of notable figures during the Regency era. One of the most popular portrait sculptors of his time, Chantrey's best-remembered works include the statues of King George III, King George IV, and George Washington. Chantrey has displayed his works at prestigious exhibitions, such as the Royal Academy.

Thomas Brock was an English sculptor and medallist. He created several large public sculptures and monuments in both Britain and other parts of the world. He is best known for the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, London.  He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1883 and made a full member a few years later. 

Paul Storr was an English goldsmith and silversmith. He worked predominantly in the Neoclassical style in vogue in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One of the most prominent silversmiths of his era, he created several magnificent sculptural pieces for royalty. He collaborated with John Mortimer to found their joint venture, Storr and Mortimer, in 1822. 

Joseph Nollekens was a British sculptor best remembered for his portrait busts. One of the most fashionable portrait sculptors of his generation, Nollekens was also widely regarded as the best English sculptor of the late-18th century. Joseph Nollekens' famous statue Faith in Wetheral Parish Church is considered his finest work.  

Nicholas Stone was an English sculptor and architect who served as the master-mason to James I and later Charles I. He is credited to have built the building of Inigo Jones' Banqueting House, among other prominent buildings. He also executed elaborate funerary monuments considered avant-garde by English standards in his era. He married Dutch sculptor Hendrick de Keyser’s daughter.   

Josefina de Vasconcellos was an English sculptor. She worked in a variety of materials, including bronze, stone, wood, and lead. Her best-known works are  Reconciliation, Holy Family, and Nativity. She was trained at the Royal Academy Schools. During World War II, she worked on several large sculptures. She also held exhibitions regularly. She was married to artist Delmar Banner. 

One of the first post-war British sculptors to receive international acclaim, Kenneth Armitage began his career in 1946 as Head of Sculpture Department at the Bath Academy of Art. Concurrently working on his own, he held his first solo exhibition in 1952, showcasing a highly mature style. Although his works were semi abstract bronzes most of them were recognizably human.

Frank Dobson was a British politician who served as the Secretary of State for Health from 1997 to 1999 under the premiership of Tony Blair. A respected politician, Dobson held multiple positions over the course of his illustrious career. The news of his demise at the age of 79 drew tributes from influential people like Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

An alumnus and later a lecturer at London's Architectural Association School before WWII, British sculptor Reg Butler began his sculpting career as an assistant to Henry Moore, eventually developing his own style. Noted for his figurative works, he held his first solo exhibition in London in 1949 and later at Venice Biennale, gaining fame for his abstract towers and nudes.

Although British sculptor Rebecca Warren is chiefly known for her works in clay, steel and bronze, she is equally at home with variety of other materials, creating collages and wall mounted vitrines with neon, wool, pompoms, paper, thread etc. Currently a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, she has been holding solo exhibitions across Europe and USA since 2003.

Best known as the designer of the Wellington Monument, Alfred Stevens was an English sculptor, painter and designer, who spent major part of his career working on the monument, leaving him little time to concentrate on other works. Ignored and harassed during his lifetime, he however left a strong impact on architectural sculpture as a decorative ensemble through his students.

Cathy de Monchaux is a British sculptor who uses materials like metal, glass, paper, leather, and fur to create sculptures. In 1988, she earned a Steinberger Group Award. The following year, Cathy de Monchaux won the London Arts Individual Artist's Award. In 1998, she was shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize, which was eventually won by contemporary painter Chris Ofili.

Willi Soukop was a sculptor best remembered for his works, such as the Swan Fountain at Dartington Hall. One of the most important members of the Royal Academy of Arts, Soukop is credited with teaching Elisabeth Frink, who went on to become a prominent sculptor in her own right. Soukop's work can also be viewed at the University of Hull.