Person DS/UK/3088 Flaxman; John (1755-1826); sculptor, designer, artist Flaxman John 1755-1826 sculptor, designer, artist Male Born in York 6 July 1755; died in London, 7 Dec 1826

By 1775 he had begun to design decorative figures for the Wedgwood pottery family, arguably the most successful and skilful employed by them; his principal ambition lay in the area of monumental sculpture, for which he received commissions from 1781 onwards; he move to Italy with his wife from 1787-1794, during which time he transformed himself from a minor British sculptor into a major international figure with proven ability in monumental and free-standing sculpture and of graphic design in illustrated books; on his return to England he continued to produce many highly regarded memorial monuments; he was appointed the first professor of sculpture by the Royal Academy; in the later years of his life, however, he was somewhat eclipsed by younger sculptors such as Chantrey and Rossi; after his death, his reputation was kept alive with the opening of the Flaxman Gallery in University College, London, in 1851. Second son of three children of minor sculptor John Flaxman; he married Anne Denham at St Ann's, Soho, on 6 June 1781 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes staff 02/01/2019 DERBYSHIRE\71026502 27/05/2020 0a75ae2f-9f52-462d-97ee-685a30d4cbe2