Lynn Chadwick was born in London in 1914. After taking his School Certificate at the Merchant Taylors' School, he stayed on to study drawing, watercolour and oil painting. He was then sent to Vouvray to study French. From 1933 to 1939, he worked as an architectural draughtsman in London, subsequently spending some time as a farm labourer before volunteering for the Fleet Air Arm and gaining a commission (1941-44).
After the war, he worked producing textile, furniture and architectural designs. His first mobile sculpture, constructed from aluminum and balsa wood, was shown at a Building Trades Exhibition in 1947. He began to make sculpture and had the first of many solo exhibitions worldwide at Gimpel Fils in London in 1950. In 1953 he was one of the twelve semi-finalists in the “Unknown Political Prisoner” International Sculpture Competition, for which he was awarded an honourable mention and prize. By 1956 his reputation as a sculptor was confirmed internationally when he won the International Prize for Sculpture at the XXVIII Venice Biennale. More prizes and accolades followed as his career developed, including being awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 1964.
During the 1950s he was prominent among the group of metal sculptors following in the steps of Henry Moore whose works, although largely abstract, carried suggestions of the human figure. Notable among Chadwick’s work at this time is The Watchers, a bronze cast from a reinforced plaster modeled upon a rigid framework. In the 1960s his work became more block-like and monumental, designed to be seen in the open.
Chadwick’s approach to sculpture was constructive and additive, rather than subtractive modelling. He first made a linear armature or skeleton onto which he applied a skin, building up the surface to a solid form. Earlier works featured a textured finish, but his later pieces have a smoother, more refined surface, and geometry replaced more organic form. His subject matter ranged from the human form, abstracted but readily recognised, to animals - general types rather than specific creatures.
Chadwick created a permanent exhibition of his work at his Gloucestershire home, Lypiatt Park, close to the foundry that cast most of his work, from monumental bronzes to miniatures in silver. During 1980s and 1990s, his work was the subject major exhibitions in Paris, London, New York and Tokyo.
He is represented in public collections in the USA, Europe and Australia as well as in the Tate Gallery, The Victoria and Albert Museum and the Arts Council Collection of Great Britain.
Lynn Chadwick passed away after a lengthy illness in 2003.