Timeline

1924

Born on March 8, New Malden, Surrey, England

1937 - 1942

Attended Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey (During vacations worked in studio of sculptor Charles Wheeler)

1942 - 1944

Attended Christ's College, Cambridge; MA in engineering (Attended Farnham School of Art during vacations)

1944 - 1946

Fleet Air Arm of Royal Navy

1946 - 1947

Regent Street Polytechnic, London; studied sculpture with Geoffrey Deeley

1947 - 1952

Royal Academy Schools, London, where he received a strict academic training (studied and copied Greek, Etruscan, Romanesque, and Gothic sculpture)

1948

Awarded two silver medals and one bronze medal from Royal Academy Schools for clay figure models, carving and composition. Traveled to France in summer, spending a month drawing, photographing and studying Chartres Cathedral.

1949

Married the painter Sheila Girling (two sons: Timothy, 1951, and Paul, 1958)

1951 - 1953

Worked as part-time assistant to Henry Moore

1953 - 1979

Taught at St Martin's School of Art, London. Joined Frank Martin, Head of Sculpture Department, in organizing the department and developing the curriculum. Integrateed sculpture and drawings into a single class with a view to understanding rather than copying the subject.

1959

Won sculpture prize at Paris Biennale. Visited the United States for the first time on Ford Foundation English Speaking Union Grant; met Kenneth Noland and David Smith, also Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, and others.

1963 - 1965

Taught at Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont

1968

Awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree, University of East Anglia

1969

Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire

1976

Presented with key of New York City by Mayor Abraham Beame

1979

Received Honorary Doctorates from the University of East Anglia and York University, Toronto. Made Honorary Member of American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York.

1981

Made Honorary Fellow, Christ’s College, Cambridge. Joins Council of Royal College of Art.

1982

Appointed Trustee of Tate Gallery, London. With Robert Loder founded the Triangle Workshop for sculptors and painters at Pine Plains, New York and participated annually thereafter until 1991. Joined Council of Slade School of Art.

1985

Received Doctor of Letters, Cambridge University

1986

Made Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Art

1987

Awarded Knighthood, Queen’s Birthday Honors. Received Honorary Degree, Surrey University.

1988

Awarded Honorary Foreign Membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1989

Received Honorary Degree, Yale University

1990

Awarded Honorary Degree, University of Alberta, Edmonton

1991

Awarded first Nobutake Shikanai Prize, Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan

1992

Awarded Honorary Membership, Accademia delle belle Arti di Brera, Milan. Received Praemium Imperiale Prize for Sculpture, Tokyo.

1993

Awarded Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Winchester School of Art

1996

Received Diploma Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Charles de Gaulle, Lille, and Honorary Degree, Durham University

1998

Received Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Centre, Washington DC and Honorary Fine Arts Degree, Florida International University.

2000

Received the Order of Merit

2013

Died in London, England