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Charles Wheeler (sculptor)
Encyclopedia
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
RA (1892-1974) was a British sculptor, and the first sculptor to hold the Presidency of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
(from 1956 through 1966).
Wheeler was born in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
and raised in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. In 1912 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
where he studied under Edouard Lanteri
Edouard Lanteri
Edouard Lanteri was a sculptor and medallist whose romantic French style of sculpting was seen as influential among exponents of New Sculpture.-Life history:...
. For World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Wheeler was classified as unfit for active service and instead modeled artificial limbs for war amputees.
He came to specialize in portraits and architectural sculpture
Architectural sculpture
Architectural sculpture is the term for the use of sculpture by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project...
and in London there are examples of his work from the mid 1930s through the mid-1970s. He became RA in 1940 and PRA in 1956. In 1968 he wrote his autobiography High Relief.
Works include:
- 20-foot bronze doors and a major program of sculptures, including the "LothburyLothburyLothbury is a street in the City of London. It runs east-west, between Gresham Street to the west and Throgmorton Street to the east. The area was populated with coppersmiths in the Middle Ages before later becoming home to a number of merchants and bankers. The Bank of England is on the southern...
Ladies" and the gilded finial figure of Ariel for the Bank of EnglandBank of EnglandThe Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
, with architect Sir Herbert BakerHerbert BakerSir Herbert Baker was a British architect.Baker was the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, 1892–1912....
, 1922-1945 - Fountain and memorial plates for Blackmoor Cloisters (War Memorial) by Sir Herbert Baker.
- sculptures for Rhodes HouseRhodes HouseRhodes House is part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on the south of South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor.- History :...
, Oxford, with Baker, 1927 - sculptures for India House, Aldwych, with Baker, 1928-1930
- sculptures for South Africa House with Baker, 1934
- the western fountain figures in Trafalgar SquareTrafalgar SquareTrafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, 1948 - allegorical figures of the Seven Seas at the Tower Hill MemorialTower Hill MemorialThe Tower Hill Memorial is a national war memorial on the south side of Trinity Square Gardens, just to the north of the Tower of London. It commemorates those from the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who died during both world wars and have "no grave but the sea".The First World War memorial...
- the statue of Wulfruna outside St. Peter's Collegiate Church, WolverhamptonSt. Peter's Collegiate Church, WolverhamptonSt. Peter's Collegiate Church is located on the highest and the oldest developed site in central Wolverhampton, England. For many centuries it was a chapel royal, and from 1480 a royal peculiar, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield and even the Province of Canterbury. The collegiate church was...
- the monumental Earth and Water figures for the Ministry of DefenceMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
in Whitehall