While his career spanned six decades, John Skeaping (1901-1980) is often associated with the work he completed while he was married to Barbara Hepworth. However, this period of just six years (1926 to1932) ignores the breadth of Skeaping's visual output and fails to reflect his true artistic legacy.

Long overdue, The Sculpture of John Skeaping surveys the artist's rich career in the round. Alongside discussion of Skeaping's best-known animalier works, including the well-known series of 'exotic' animals for Wedgwood, Jonathan Blackwood also provides insights into the artist's working practices, as developed under the tutelage of Francis Derwent Wood, and the diverse commissions that he undertook after the close of the Second World War.

Including a full catalogue of Skeaping's sculptures with over 200 reproductions of the artist's works, The Sculpture of John Skeaping is essential reading for all those interested in learning more about this unjustly neglected figure within British sculpture.

Contents: Introduction: Who was John Skeaping?; Skeaping as student, teacher and traveller; Skeaping and materials; Skeaping as animalier; Chronology; Selected bibliography; Selected exhibitions; Public collections; Catalogue of sculpture; Acknowledgements; Index

About the Author: Jonathan Blackwood is Lecturer and Course Director, History & Theory of Art Duncan of Jordanstone College of Fine Art , University of Dundee. He is the author of Winifred Nicholson (2001) and Portrait of a Young Scotsman: A Life of Edward Baird (2004), in addition to numerous shorter essays and articles on Scottish, English and Eastern European art history.

Reviews: 'Worth buying for the illustrations alone.' The Art Newspaper

'Blackwood's book provides an opportunity to survey the full breadth of his output for the first time, and in the process rehabilitates the reputation of this important sculptor. Alongside a well-illustrated section on Skeaping's life, work and techniques, it also includes a full catalogue of his sculptures.' ARLIS

Co-publisher: Published in association with the Henry Moore Foundation

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