John Milne (1931–1978) was an English abstract sculptor who worked mainly in bronze and wood but also aluminium and stone. A prominent member of the

St Ives group The St Ives School refers to a group of artists living and working in the Cornwall, Cornish town of St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives.

of artists, he was a pupil and worked as an assistant to

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

for two years.

Biography

Born in Eccles, Lancashire, in 1931 Milne studied electrical engineering at the Salford Royal Technical College in 1945, then transferred to the art school at the College, specialising in sculpture, until 1951. In the following year he attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, in Paris. For two years he was then a pupil of the sculptor

and her assistant, along with amongst others, the sculptor Denis Mitchell. Although some of Hepworth’s assistants later moved away from her style, Milne’s work continued to bear some relation to it. In 1956, he purchased Trewyn House, a large property in St Ives, next to Hepworth's studio (her studio had once been an outbuilding of his house), which provided him with studio space and a view to the sea below. Milne from the early 1960s visited Greece regularly, an influence which showed itself in works such as ''Gnathos'', owned by the Tate Gallery. The artist wrote: ‘I often cast works with more than one type of finish in order to be absolutely sure that the final result is the most perfect that I can obtain. I consider the polished bronze of Gnathos as the ultimate fulfilment of my original idea. The Greek word “Gnathos” means “jaw” or “jawbone” which describes my feeling of “biting” or “getting ones teeth into” something, be that something my life or my work—this was the emotion of the sculpture. Gnathos was a complete change of direction in my work at that point (1960). I have since carried out many other sculptures and reliefs which continue this pincer-like feeling amongst which are Totemic II and the relief Icarus'. Milne participated in many group exhibitions, including with the

Penwith Society of Arts The Penwith Society of Arts is an art group formed in St Ives, Cornwall, England, UK, in early 1949 by abstract artists who broke away from the more conservative St Ives School. It was originally led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, a ...

and the

Newlyn Society of Artists Newlyn Society of Artists, often abbreviated to NSA, is an artists association founded in 1896. It is based in Newlyn, Cornwall. It was founded by a group of local artists to organise exhibitions at the new Newlyn Art Gallery built by John Passmore ...

in Cornwall, at

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery The Box is a museum, gallery and archive in Plymouth, Devon, England, opened in 2020 housing a collection of about 2 million items. The core of the building was previously Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery which closed in 2016. The building wa ...

and the Genesis Galleries, New York. One-man exhibitions included several at Marjorie Parr Gallery (1969 & 1972), Lad Lane Gallery, Dublin, and a retrospective at the

in 1971. His reputation grew and his work was collected and exhibited extensively in the UK and abroad; exhibitions were held in Vancouver in 1974 and, jointly with Denis Mitchell and

Enzo Plazzotta Enzo Plazzotta (29 May 1921 – 12 October 1981) was an Italian-born British sculptor. Plazzotta was born in Mestre, near Venice, and spent his working life in London. He is best remembered for a fascination with and study of movement in bro ...

, in Saudi Arabia in 1976; several Milne exhibitions were also mounted in the USA. He continued to live and work in St Ives until his death in 1978 at the age of 47. The Belgrave Gallery exhibition in 2000 marked the publication of Peter Davies’s ''The Sculpture of John Milne''.

Representation in public collections

Arts Council of Great Britain. London Borough of Camden Manchester Art Gallery National Galleries of Scotland Pallant House Gallery, Chichester Salford Museum & Art Gallery Tate Gallery The Whitworth, Manchester

Biography

Representation in public collections

See also

References

Further reading