Artist Database

English sculptor and equine painter John Rattenbury Skeaping studied at Goldsmiths College and the Central School of Arts and Crafts, followed by the Royal Academy. He was awarded the British Prix de Rome in 1924 and studied at the British School at Rome. Skeaping was a member of the London Group and The Seven and Five Society, he was married briefly to fellow sculptor Barbara Hepworth, and was an official war artist during World War II. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1960. Skeaping taught at the Royal College of Art from 1948 and was a professor of sculpture at the same institution between 1953 and 1959, and he designed numerous animals for Wedgwood. Skeaping is the author of a number of books on drawing, particularly animals and horses.

Skeaping travelled widely and lived in Mexico and France for a while. He exhibited regularly in Britain including at the Royal Academy, and as part of the art competition at the Summer Olympics in London in 1948, in addition to exhibiting widely internationally. His sculptures can be found in the collections of the Tate in London and at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.