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Robert Erskine FRSS (born 1954) is an English sculptor. He has created many public sculptures by commission, which stand in locations in Britain and Europe.


Life

Erskine was born in London. He studied sculpture at
Kingston School of Art The Kingston School of Art (KSA) is an art school in Kingston upon Thames, part of Kingston University London. It was first established in 1899 as the Kingston School of Science and Art. In 1930 it was established as a separate school and has b ...
from 1971 to 1976, and completed postgraduate studies at
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
under
Reg Butler Reginald Cotterell Butler (28 April 1913 – 23 October 1981) was an English sculptor. He was born at Bridgefoot House, Buntingford, Hertfordshire to Frederick William Butler (1880–1937) and Edith (1880–1969), daughter of blacks ...
, gaining an MA in fine art sculpture in 1978. He has exhibited in Japan, Europe and the US as well as Great Britain. He worked from studios in London until 2014, more recently working from a studio at his home in Suffolk. He is a visiting lecturer in the UK and overseas."Robert Erskine"
''Modern British Artists''. Version dated 14 March 2008 retrieved via
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
.
"Robert Erskine FRSS"
Royal Society of Sculptors. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
Erskine became an Associate of the
Royal Society of Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors (RSS) is a British charity established in 1905, which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road in South Kensington, Lo ...
in 1993, and a Fellow in 1996. He has described his passion for engineering, industry and nature as main influences for his work.


Works

Erskine's works include the following: "Quintisection", of 1993, is a stainless steel sculpture in
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
, Tyne and Wear, height , commissioned by
Doxford International Business Park Doxford International is a business park located at the A19 / A690 interchange on the outskirts of Sunderland, in the North East of England. Previously it was a greenfield site, it was designated as an Enterprise Zone in 1990 in response to t ...
. It is based on a cross-section of a ship. It gained for Erskine in 1995 the award Best Sculpture Outside London from the Royal Society of Sculptors. "Roll Down", in
Spring Vale Spring Vale is a district and former ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands, England. It is situated SSE of the city centre, on the city's border with the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The population of the ward at the 2011 census ...
,
Bilston Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, south east of Wolverhampton city centre and close to the borders of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, Sandwell ...
, West Midlands, was commissioned by Blue Lamp Business Parks, and was unveiled by
Dennis Turner Dennis Turner, Baron Bilston (26 August 1942 – 25 February 2014) was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East from 1987 to 2005. Early life Turner was born in Bradley in ...
in 1994. The stainless steel sculpture, height , represents an ingot passing through a
rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simi ...
. It was nominated for the Anderson Sculpture Prize. "White Rhythm" stands on a dune at
Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...
in the Netherlands. Erskine in 1999 represented Great Britain at the
European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
Sculpture Symposium "Sea and Steel", Britain being one of twelve countries hosted by the Netherlands. "White Rhythm" was awarded first prize by
Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...
. The stainless steel sculpture measuring , installed in 2000, is made of shapes cut out of sheet metal, and is an abstract representation of a crowd of people moving in a busy street. "Power Rhythm", installed in
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
, Cambridgeshire, in 2000, was commissioned by Peterborough Environment City Trust; Erskine won a national competition to create a sculpture for the city to celebrate the millennium. It is made of stainless steel and is high. Apprentices from
Perkins Engines Perkins Engines Company Limited is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural, construction, material handling, power generation, and Industrial sector, industrial. It was established in Peterborough, Eng ...
and Midas Engineering took part in its fabrication. The "Tunstall Shard", installed in 2008, is a stainless steel sculpture in Alexandra Retail Park in
Tunstall, Staffordshire Tunstall is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, Engl ...
, commissioned by Dransfield Properties. It is a representation of a shard of Roman pottery, found during redevelopment of the former Wedgwood pottery site. The original shard, including a fingerprint, is magnified 300 times to a height of ."The Tunstall Shard Unveiled at Alexandra Park!"
Dransfield Properties Ltd. Retrieved 30 November 2023.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erskine, Robert 1954 births Living people 20th-century English sculptors 21st-century English sculptors Alumni of Kingston University Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Fellows of the Royal British Society of Sculptors Sculptors from London