Biography

Geoffrey Clarke (British, 1924–2014) was a prominent sculptor known for his experimentation with materials and processes. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, Clarke was one of the few artists in Britain who actively encouraged and adopted the practice of cooperation between sculptors and architects. He was also one of the first in this country to use the welding method in sculpture, and he invariably opted for the use of aluminum rather than bronze, a metal that was still innovative in the 1950s. Clarke’s work during that decade was characteristically monumental and large in scale. During this period, he completed 50 architectural commissions for a number of modernist buildings, the most well known of which was his work on the new Coventry Cathedral, which began in 1956.