Michael Sandle RA

Born: 18 May 1936
Elected RA: re-elected 26 May 2004
Category of Membership: Sculptor

Michael Sandle RA, Twentieth Century Memorial, 1971-8 Photo: Howard GreyMichael Sandle studied at Douglas School of Art and Technology, Isle of Man from 1951 to 1954 and the Slade School of Fine Art, London from 1956 to 1959. In his early work he emphasised craftsmanship and the search for symbols, rejecting the formalism increasingly common in sculpture of the period. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s he worked on a small range of individual works in which he explored abstract and figurative idioms.

Following his appointment as professor of sculpture at Pforzheim, Germany in 1973, and at Karlsruhe, Germany in 1980, Sandle’s work became more monumental, partly in response to a series of significant commemorative commissions. His work voices criticisms of what Sandle describes as ‘the heroic decadence’ of capitalism, in particular its appetite for global conflict. He has also attacked the media for packaging and sanitising the destructiveness of war. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1994.

He has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in Britain and internationally including the 5th Paris Biennale, 4th and 6th Documenta and Sao Paulo Biennale.

Read an interview with Michael Sandle in RA Magazine Autumn 2007

Recent solo exhibitions
2012 Flowers Gallery in Pforzheim
2009 "Twentieth Century Memorial", Dean Clough, Halifax
2008 "Twentieth Century Memorial", Duveen Gallery, Tate Britain
2007 Centenary Art Gallery, Leeds University
Retrospective, Inner Bailey Ludlow Castle
Frost & Reed, London
2005 Drawing Retrospective, DLI Gallery, Durham
1998 Sculpture & Drawing, Manx Museum, Isle of Man
1996 De Montfort University, Lincoln
1995 Drawings & Sculpture, Jason & Rhodes, London
Memorials for the Twentieth Century, Tate Liverpool
1991 Kryzstofery Galerie, Krakow, Poland
1990 British Council Exhibition, Ernst Museum and the Műcsarnok, Budapest, Hungary
British Council Exhibition, OPS Park Sienkiewicza, Lodz, Poland
1989 Retrospective, Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany.
"Malta Siege Memorial", Diploma Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
"Malta Siege Memorial", Imperial War Museum, London
1988 Retrospective, The Whitechapel Gallery, London
1984 Wilhelm, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
1983 Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany

Public collections
Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
Arts Council of Great Britain
Atkinson Gallery, Southport
Australian National Gallery, Canberra
British Council, Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, London
British Museum
Bundesmimisterium des Innern, Bonn, Germany
Cass Sculpture Foundation, Goodwood
Contemporary Art Society
Government Art Collection
Dallas Museum of Art, USA
Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Imperial War Museum, London
Leeds City Art Gallery
Leicestershire Collection for Schools
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
Manx Heritage Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man
Mercer Gallery, Harrogate
Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk, Poland
Neueberger Museum, State University of New York, Purchase, USA
Oldham Art Gallery
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Seattle Art Museum, USA
Sydney Bestoff Sculpture Gardens, New Orleans, USA
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany
Staatsgallerie Stuttgart, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Tate Britain, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Public commissions
2002 Memorial to Lifeboatmen, Marine Gardens, Douglas, Isle of Man
2001 International Maritime Organization Seafarers’ Memorial, Albert Embankment, London
1997 "The Viking", Port Erin Arts Centre, Isle of Man
1992 "St Margaret", The Pearl Assurance Head Offices, Peterborough
1988-92 Malta Siege Memorial, Grand Harbour, Valletta
1988 "St. George & the Dragon", Blackfriars, London
1987 "Woman for Heidelberg", Kopf Klinik, Heidelberg, Germany
1986 "Belgrano Medal - a Medal of Dishonour", British Art Medallic Society
1985 "Memorial to the Victims of a Helicopter Disaster", Mannheim, Germany
1981 "Sculpture for a Trades School", Muhlacker, Germany

Awards
1986 Nobutaka Shikanai prize, 1st Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition, Utsukushi-gahara Open Air Museum, Japan
1987 Prize-winner in 7th International Small Sculpture Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary
1989 Korn/Ferry Award, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition
1995 Henry Hering Memorial Medal (for Malta Siege Memorial) National Sculpture Society of America
2004-6 Kenneth Armitage Fellowship
2007 Hugh Casson Drawing Prize, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk

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