Lynn Chadwick

Lynn Chadwick (1914–2003) was one of Britain’s most important postwar sculptors. Awarded the International Prize for Sculpture at the 1956 Venice Biennale—the youngest artist ever to receive it—he quickly established himself as a leading figure of 20th-century sculpture. Trained as an architectural draftsman and later serving as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, Chadwick turned to sculpture after the war, developing a unique method of “drawing in space” by welding steel rods into dynamic, triangulated structures. Largely self-taught, he created hybrid human and animal forms that conveyed movement, poise, and what he called Attitude. From the 1970s onward, his work evolved into faceted, monumental figures—winged, robed, or poised on slender legs—crafted in iron, bronze, and stainless steel, uniting balance, strength, and grace.