The Most Famous

SCULPTORS from United Kingdom

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This page contains a list of the greatest British Sculptors. The pantheon dataset contains 258 Sculptors, 12 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 6th most number of Sculptors behind United States, and Germany.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Sculptors of all time. This list of famous British Sculptors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Sculptors.

Photo of Henry Moore

1. Henry Moore (1898 - 1986)

With an HPI of 66.73, Henry Moore is the most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 54 different languages on wikipedia.

Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore also produced many drawings, including a series depicting Londoners sheltering from the Blitz during the Second World War, along with other graphic works on paper. His forms are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically depicting mother-and-child or reclining figures. Moore's works are usually suggestive of the female body, apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups. His forms are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces. Many interpreters liken the undulating form of his reclining figures to the landscape and hills of his Yorkshire birthplace. Moore became well known through his carved marble and larger-scale abstract cast bronze sculptures, and was instrumental in introducing a particular form of modernism to the United Kingdom. His ability in later life to fulfil large-scale commissions made him exceptionally wealthy. Despite this, he lived frugally; most of the money he earned went towards endowing the Henry Moore Foundation, which continues to support education and promotion of the arts.

Photo of John Flaxman

2. John Flaxman (1755 - 1826)

With an HPI of 54.94, John Flaxman is the 2nd most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several years in Rome, where he produced his first book illustrations. He was a prolific maker of funerary monuments.

Photo of Richard Long

3. Richard Long (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 54.13, Richard Long is the 3rd most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Sir Richard Julian Long, (born 2 June 1945) is an English sculptor and one of the best-known British land artists. Long is the only artist to have been short-listed four times for the Turner Prize. He was nominated in 1984, 1987 and 1988, and then won the award in 1989 for White Water Line. He lives and works in Bristol, the city in which he was born. Long studied at Saint Martin's School of Art before going on to create work using various media including sculpture, photography and text. His work is on permanent display in Britain at the Tate and Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery as well as galleries in America, Switzerland and Australia. Long's work has broadened the idea of sculpture to be a part of performance art and conceptual art. His work typically is made of earth, rock, mud, stone and other nature based materials. In exhibitions his work is typically displayed with the materials or through documentary photographs of his performances and experiences.

Photo of Tony Cragg

4. Tony Cragg (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 52.17, Tony Cragg is the 4th most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977.

Photo of Antony Gormley

5. Antony Gormley (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 50.71, Antony Gormley is the 5th most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the Angel of the North, a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool; and Event Horizon, a multipart site installation which premiered in London in 2007, then subsequently in Madison Square in New York City (2010), São Paulo, Brazil (2012), and Hong Kong (2015–16).

Photo of Eduardo Paolozzi

6. Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 - 2005)

With an HPI of 50.19, Eduardo Paolozzi is the 6th most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, Italian: [paoˈlɔttsi]; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art.

Photo of Anthony Caro

7. Anthony Caro (1924 - 2013)

With an HPI of 49.52, Anthony Caro is the 7th most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (8 March 1924 – 23 October 2013) was an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using 'found' industrial objects. He began as a member of the modernist school, having worked with Henry Moore early in his career. He was lauded as the greatest British sculptor of his generation.

Photo of Anne Seymour Damer

8. Anne Seymour Damer (1748 - 1828)

With an HPI of 49.51, Anne Seymour Damer is the 8th most famous British Sculptor.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Anne Seymour Damer (née Conway; 26 October 1748 – 28 May 1828) was an English sculptor. Described as a 'female genius' by Horace Walpole, she was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon. Influenced by the Enlightenment movement, Damer was an author, traveller, theatrical producer and actress, as well as an acclaimed sculptor. She exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1818 and was a close friend to members of Georgian high society, including Horace Walpole and the politician Charles James Fox. It is believed that Damer was a lesbian and was in a relationship with the actress Elizabeth Farren.

Photo of Andy Goldsworthy

9. Andy Goldsworthy (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 48.89, Andy Goldsworthy is the 9th most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Andy Goldsworthy (born 25 July 1956) is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings.

Photo of Barry Flanagan

10. Barry Flanagan (1941 - 2009)

With an HPI of 48.39, Barry Flanagan is the 10th most famous British Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Barry Flanagan OBE RA (11 January 1941 – 31 August 2009) was an Irish-Welsh sculptor. He is best known for his bronze statues of hares and other animals.

People

Pantheon has 13 people classified as British sculptors born between 1748 and 1956. Of these 13, 4 (30.77%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British sculptors include Richard Long, Tony Cragg, and Antony Gormley. The most famous deceased British sculptors include Henry Moore, John Flaxman, and Eduardo Paolozzi. As of April 2024, 1 new British sculptors have been added to Pantheon including Anne Seymour Damer.

Living British Sculptors

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Deceased British Sculptors

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Newly Added British Sculptors (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Sculptors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Sculptors since 1700.