PUBLIC SCULPTURE

Sir Richard Wallace for the Château de Bagatelle, Paris

A connoisseur, collector, and one of the most generous philanthropists of the nineteenth century, Sir Richard Wallace was the last resident of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris. The Château has been undergoing an ambitious restoration since 2021 under the care of the Fondation Mansart and I am delighted to have been commissioned to sculpt a monument of Wallace to be installed there. The maquette was presented to the public in June 2024, and I look forward to beginning work on the full-size monument.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for the Royal Albert Hall, London

In 2020, as part of its 150th-anniversary celebrations, the Royal Albert Hall commissioned sculptures to fill the empty niches of the North and South Porches. Following a commission competition lasting over one year, I was selected to sculpt Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for the South Porch. It was an extraordinary privilege and the project of a lifetime. Queen Elizabeth II gave us a sense of stability and continuity during times of enormous social change. Throughout this, Prince Philip, a man as modern as tomorrow, was her “strength and stay”. I felt that an exciting and contemporary way of paying tribute to their shared lifetime of service would be through creating one composition across the entire South Porch façade. Reading from left to right, viewers will follow the dynamic Prince Philip’s gaze as he strides forward (left niche) to the dignified Queen Elizabeth II’s (right niche). Viewers will see Queen Elizabeth II’s sculpture set at an angle, as if she were about to turn into the Hall, turning viewers’ attention to the doorway and making them feel welcome to “the Nation’s Village Hall”. I hope you will also discover something timeless and universal in the relationship between the two sculptures. After all, the marriage and partnership of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is one of the great love stories of our time.

The sculptures of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip measure over 2m each and took me nearly nine months to sculpt. They were cast in Bronze by Pangolin Editions in early 2022, and were installed in October 2023. They were unveiled by King Charles and Queen Camilla in November 2023, as part of their formal visit to the Royal Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance.