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Tom Murphy (born 1949) is an English artist who is best known for his bronze sculptures.
Murphy is a self-taught artist, starting his artistic career initially as a hobby and moved quickly to an intense period of self-study, mastering a range of techniques in many art disciplines.
Previously he worked in a number of occupations which included; a seaman, salesman, musician and impressionist in a pop group.
Later he graduated as a teacher at
Liverpool John Moores University and taught art at the
Liverpool Community College
The City of Liverpool College is one of three colleges of further education in Liverpool, Merseyside. It was established in 1992 by the amalgamation of all four further education colleges within Liverpool.
The college is located over several s ...
.
[ He also worked at a Centre for People with Learning Difficulties. His differing careers and interest in the characteristics of people have both acted as a rich source of inspiration in both his paintings and sculptures.
His early experimenting in painting was finally appreciated when he won first prize in the ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'North West Art 88' competition.
His big success in sculpture came in 1996 when his sculpture of
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
was seen by a representative of major Liverpool Company,
Littlewoods. He was commissioned to sculpt two monumental size bronzes of the
Moores brothers for Liverpool's premier shopping area
Church Street.
His work is all over the city of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
as well as in
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
,
Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley
The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England. It covers several towns and villages, including Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood, Cronton and Stockbridge Village; Kirkby, Huyton, and ...
,
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He has also sold many smaller works around the world.
![Chance Meeting 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Chance_Meeting_2.jpg)
In 2003, he was voted by
Radio Merseyside
BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 203,00 ...
listeners and ''
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'' readers as the 76th Greatest Merseysider.
Now his work is known all over the world since creating the iconic statue of
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
at
Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...
which was unveiled jointly on 15 March 2002, by
Cherie Blair
Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair.
Early life and education
Booth ...
and Lennon's widow,
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
. His sculptures of
Ken Dodd
Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances.
A life ...
and
Bessie Braddock
Elizabeth Margaret Braddock (née Bamber; 24 September 1899 – 13 November 1970) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Liverpool Exchange division from 1945 to 1970. She was a ...
, commissioned by
Merseytravel
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transpor ...
are sited at
Liverpool Lime Street railway station
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
. Though best known for his large sculptures, he has always maintained his interest in a wide range of art disciplines and sectors. An accomplished painter, he has been commissioned to paint many key Merseyside figures including the official retirement portrait of Mr John Moores.
In 2015 his bronze sculpture of
Trooper Potts VC and Trooper Andrews, of the
Berkshire Yeomanry
The Berkshire Yeomanry was a part time regiment of the British Army formed in 1794 to counter the threat of invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was the Royal County of Berkshire's senior volunteer unit with over 200 years of volunta ...
was unveiled by
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV (TV network), ITV children's television show ''Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show ''Who Wa ...
and the
Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. Since 1689, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Berkshire.
Lord-Lieutenants of Berkshire
*Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk 1545–22 August 1545
*E ...
. The Grandchildren of both Fred Potts and Arthur Andrews and many other descendants attended the unveiling ceremony along with Mayors and Chairs of Councils from across "Old Berkshire". Sited just outside Forbury Gardens, Reading Tom developed the design to appeal to children, young people and the military historian. Cast by the
Morris Singer Foundry it has a high degree of finish and much historical detail, including items lying on the Gallipoli Battlefield.
Notable works
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Tom
Living people
1949 births
English sculptors
English male sculptors
Modern sculptors