| Entry Type | Person |
| Surname | Flaxman |
| Forenames | John |
| Epithet | sculptor, designer, artist |
| Dates | 1755-1826 |
| Gender Identity | Male |
| History | 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. |
| Relationships | Second son of three children of minor sculptor John Flaxman; he married Anne Denham at St Ann's, Soho, on 6 June 1781 |
| Key Events | Born in York 6 July 1755; died in London, 7 Dec 1826 |
| Source | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online |
| Authorised Form of Name | Flaxman; John (1755-1826); sculptor, designer, artist |
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