Laurence Broderick FRSA (18 June 1935 – 18 April 2024) was a British sculptor. His best known work is 'The Bull', a public sculpture erected in 2003 at the Bull Ring, Birmingham. The Bull is about 4.5 meters long, about 220 cm high and weighs about 6.5 tons. It is one of the largest bronze animal sculptures in the country. His work consists largely of figurative carvings in stone and editions in bronze.

Laurence Broderick
MRBS, FRSA
Broderick with The Bull
Born(1935-06-18)18 June 1935
Bristol, England
Died18 April 2024(2024-04-18) (aged 88)
NationalityBritish
EducationBembridge School
Alma mater
OccupationSculptor
The Bull

Early life

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Broderick was born in Bristol, in the west of England, on 18 June 1935, and attended Bembridge School on the Isle of Wight. He studied painting, illustration and sculpture under Ray Millard and Geoffrey Deeley at the Regent Street Polytechnic from 1952 to 1957, and with Sidney Harpley and Keith Godwin at the Hammersmith School of Art from 1964 to 1965.

Career

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Broderick began his artistic career as an historical and educational illustrator and painter. He taught Art at the Haberdashers' Aske's School in Cricklewood from 1959 and Elstree from 1961, and was Director of Art there from 1965 to 1981. He continued working as a freelance artist and sculptor throughout this period and became a full-time sculptor in 1981.

Predominantly a stone carver, working with many types of stone including: Marble, Alabaster, Soapstone, Hopton Wood and Ancaster Limestone, he also modelled in clay, plasticine, plaster and wax for casting in bronze.

In 1983, he competed as part of the British snow sculpture team during The Quebec Winter Carnival. The team gained second place.

Broderick was a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 1978, Broderick visited the Isle of Skye with his young family where he saw his first wild otter. It was just off the Island of Ornsay, once owned by Gavin Maxwell, the Scottish naturalist and author best known for his work with otters. Skye became Broderick's second home and he held annual sculpture exhibitions on the island for 26 years. For many years he divided his time between his studios on Skye and Waresley near Cambridge, England.

Broderick was joint president of the International Otter Survival Fund, a charity dedicated to the conservation, protection and care of otters in the UK and around the world.

Death

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Broderick died on 18 April 2024, at the age of 88.[1]

Commissions and collections

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Maxwell Otter at ADC Engineering Aberdeen
 
Leaping salmon, Chester Business Park
 
June Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair
 
Lord Philimore, bronze portrait
 
Indian Elephant Calf, Collection Royal Caribbean International
 
Otter Sculpture unveiling by HRH Princess Anne Loch Lomond
 
Madonna of the Magnificat, Dunstable Priory
 
Lord Macdonald, bronze portrait
 
International Tennis Federation World Champion Trophies 2009
 
Snow Elephants 1983 Quebec Winter Carnival

Exhibitions

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Group shows with the Royal Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Contemporary Portrait Society, Society of Wildlife Artists and the Royal West of England Academy.

Exhibitions in Scotland, England, Jersey, France, Monaco, Germany, USA and Canada.

Published works

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  • Soapstone Carving. Tiranti. 1977. ISBN 978-0854586264.

Works containing Broderick's illustrations

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  • Ports and Harbours. Macdonald Phoebus.
  • Henry Purcell and his Times. Hamish Hamilton.
  • Uncle Matt's Mountain. New York St Martin's Press.
  • Persia The Immortal Kingdom. New York Graphic Society Publishers.
  • Everyday Life in Imperial Japan. Hippocrene Books Inc.
  • Everyday Life in Traditional Japan. Tuttle Publishing.

References

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  1. ^ Horner, Nick (25 April 2024). "Sculptor who gave Birmingham its Bullring bull dies at 88". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
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