John Hoskin (1921–1990) was a British sculptor from Cheltenham. He began drawing when he returned from Germany after serving in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...

, a painter from the St. Ives school encouraged him to become a sculptor. John while working as an architect's draftsman but longing to become an artist, knew of the group working in St.Ives and decided to hitch-hike there one day. By a remarkable co-incidence, he was picked up and given a lift by Terry. By the time they arrived, John knew being a sculptor was his destiny. It was he that said "as if up until that journey my life had been playing out of tune." He began sculpting in the early 1950s, working with metal. His works combined shiny curved surfaces with contrasting black welded comb of rods that held them together, a conflict of geometric and organic forms. His work can be found in the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

Gallery, the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

collection and various other galleries around the world — in America, Yugoslavia, New Zealand and Australia. He refused to allow one style to dominate his sculptures, even though this often alienated him from those who had supported his earlier works. He has taught at the Bath Academy in Corsham, and as the head of painting at Winchester, a visiting lecturer at Newcastle, and a Professor of Fine Art at Leicester Polytechnic.

References

External links

Biography page at the Bath Academy of Art
1921 births 1990 deaths St Ives artists Artists from Cheltenham Academics of De Montfort University Geometry of Fear 20th-century British sculptors British male sculptors English contemporary artists 20th-century British male artists {{UK-sculptor-stub