Wright Auction

Known for his groundbreaking, abstract welded steel compositions, British-American sculptor Brian Wall was born in London in 1931. After experiencing the London Blitz as a child during World War II, Wall was evacuated to Yorkshire. Following his return to London, he left school as a teenager to work as a glassblower. He served as an aerial photographer in the Royal Air Force prior to shifting to painting in the early 1950s. In 1954, Wall moved to the artists' colony in St. Ives, Cornwall, where he worked alongside prominent abstract artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, and Terry Frost. From 1955 to 1960, Wall served as Hepworth's assistant and began creating his own wood reliefs and brightly colored sculptures. In 1956, he began producing some of the earliest abstract steel sculptures in England. His first solo exhibition was held in London in 1957, and he quickly gained recognition, participating in various prestigious group exhibitions.

Wall returned to London in 1960, becoming a significant figure in the English Sculpture of the 1960s movement. He was appointed Head of Sculpture at the Central School of Art (now Central Saint Martins), a role he held from 1962 to 1972. Wall's sculptures were featured in several major exhibitions, including at the Tate Gallery in 1965. His large-scale commission for Thornaby, Yorkshire in 1968 became the largest sculpture in England at the time. A year earlier, Wall's work had been introduced to American audiences during the exhibition, New British Painting and Sculpture. In 1969, he accepted an invitation to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, where he later became a tenured professor and chair of the art department. Wall became an American citizen in 1982 and retired from teaching in 1994.

Wall has exhibited extensively in both the United States and United Kingdom. Major retrospectives of his work have been held at the Seattle Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work is included in a range of notable public collections, such as Tate Britain, the Berkeley Art Museum, and the Seattle Art Museum. Since the 1970s, Wall has worked from his studio in Emeryville, California, where he continues to create welded steel sculptures. Wall is known for combining geometric elements and industrial materials, to fashion both small-scale pieces and monumental outdoor installations. Influenced by artists like Naum Gabo and Japanese culture, Wall has consistently pushed the boundaries of modern sculpture.