John Rattenbury Skeaping, RA (9 June 1901 – 5 March 1980) was an English sculptor and equine painter and sculptor. He designed animal figures for

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

, and his life-size statue of

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

is exhibited at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Biography

Born in

South Woodford South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-ea ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, Skeaping was the eldest son of the painter Kenneth Mathieson Skeaping and studied at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

in London, the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central ...

between 1917 and 1919 and later at the Royal Academy until 1920. In 1924, he won the

British Prix de Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

and its scholarship to the British School at Rome.̣ Skeaping was the first husband of the sculptor Barbara Hepworth, whom he met while studying in Rome. They married in May 1925 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. The couple had a joint exhibition in 1928 at the Alex Reid and Lefevre Gallery in Glasgow. They had a son, Paul Skeaping, who was born in 1929 and died in 1953 in Thailand. Hepworth and Skeaping began divorce proceedings in 1931; the divorce was finalised in March 1933. He was a member of the

London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

from 1928 to 1934, joined the

Seven and Five Society The Seven and Five Society was an art group of seven painters and five sculptors created in 1919 and based in London. The group was originally intended to encompass traditional, conservative artistic sensibilities. The first exhibition catalogue ...

in 1932 and later, after World War II, worked for a period in Mexico. During the War, Skeaping had been commissioned by the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

to produce a portrait bust. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1960, having exhibited there since 1922. Skeaping wrote several books on drawing and an autobiography, ''Drawn from Life'' was published in 1977. From 1948, he taught sculpture at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

and was professor of sculpture there from 1953 to 1959. Skeaping later lived in Devon near the village of Chagford and moved to the

Camargue Camargue (, also , , ; oc, label= Provençal, Camarga) is a region of France located south of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône delta. The eastern arm is called the ''Grand Rhône''; the western one is the '' ...

, France in 1959. A BBC documentary ''One Pair of Eyes – John Skeaping'' (1970) directed by

David Cobham Michael David Cobham (11 May 1930 – 25 March 2018) was a British film and TV producer and director, best known for the film ''Tarka the Otter''. He was also a first-class cricketer. Cricket career Cobham was educated at Stowe School, where h ...

was produced for BBC TV during Skeaping's time there. The Tate Gallery owns eight works by Skeaping. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

Portrait sculptures

Marble heads dating from London, c. 1927 of Barbara Hepworth by Skeaping, and of Skeaping by Hepworth are documented by photograph in the Retrospective catalogue, but are both believed lost. A stone head of

Arthur Lett-Haines Arthur Lett-Haines (1894 – 25 February 1978Deaths, ''The Times'', 2 March 1978), known as Lett Haines, was a British painter and sculptor who experimented in many different media, though he generally characterised himself as "an English surr ...

dates from 1933, when Skeaping was living in the artists' colony at the house of Sir

Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portra ...

after the breakup of his marriage to Hepworth. A bronze sketch (1978)John Skeaping 1901–80: A Retrospective, exh. cat., Arthur Ackermann and Son, London, 1991 p. 67. of Skeaping exists by Sally Arnup.

Animals for Wedgwood

File:Figure (AM 2007.66.2-1).jpg, Monkeys File:Figure, bison (AM 1988.89-2).jpg, Bison File:Figure (AM 2007.66.4-3).jpg, Polar bear

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skeaping, John 1901 births 1980 deaths 20th-century British sculptors English sculptors English male sculptors Equine artists Modern sculptors Prix de Rome (Britain) winners Royal Academicians People from Essex Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Olympic competitors in art competitions

Biography

Portrait sculptures

Animals for Wedgwood

References

Further reading

External links