British Sculpture’s Modern Lineage Takes Shape in London
A new exhibition at Bowman Sculpture in London places more than a century of British sculptural practice into sharp relief, pairing modern icons with contemporary artists in a way that emphasizes continuity as much as change. “Modern British: Modern & Contemporary British Sculpture” is on view through May 29, 2026, and uses a compact but carefully chosen group of works to trace how British sculptors have approached form, scale, and material from the modern period to the present.
The exhibition includes Henry Moore’s Small Seated Figure, conceived around 1936 and cast in 1957, a work that distills Moore’s semi-abstract figurative language into a concentrated, tactile presence. Eduardo Paolozzi’s Richard Rogers as Newton offers a different kind of dialogue with the past, referencing Newton after William Blake, the monumental sculpture installed in the forecourt of the British Library, while shifting the motif into a more intimate register.
Lynn Chadwick’s Maquette Two Sitting Figures adds another historical anchor. Chadwick’s work is known for its tension between figuration and abstraction, and the piece in the exhibition extends that legacy into a smaller, more provisional form. Alongside these modern touchstones are works by Rufus Martin and Joanna Allen, whose inclusion signals the gallery’s interest in artists shaping the current conversation around British sculpture.
Allen is represented by Bowman Sculpture and had her first solo exhibition with the gallery in 2025, “Subconscious Playground.” Her presence in the show underscores one of its central ideas: that British sculpture is not simply a historical category, but an evolving field in which older formal concerns continue to resonate in new hands.
That perspective also reflects the gallery’s own history. Founded in 1993 by Michele and Robert Bowman, and now co-helmed with their daughter Mica Bowman, Bowman Sculpture began with a focus on Modern masters including Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, and Henry Moore. Over time, it has broadened to include both established and emerging contemporary artists, creating a program that links the canonical to the current.
For visitors, the exhibition offers more than a survey of names. It presents British sculpture as a living tradition, shaped by cross-generational exchange and by the persistent question of how three-dimensional form can hold memory, psychology, and public life at once.
