Known as one of the fathers of Modern sculpture in Britain he studied first at the Regent Street Polytechnic and then at the Royal College of Art. During the Great War he enlisted with the Royal Horse Artillery, transferring first to the 2nd London field battery, then to the Royal Engineers camouflage division. In 1919 he spent a year in Henry Tonks's life class at the Slade School of Fine Art and he used an ex-services scholarship to travel to Iceland. Aerwards he joined the staff at the Royal College of Art where he was a major influence on a young Henry Moore. In 1921 he opened his own Brook Green School of Drawing in Girdlers Road. He was a founder member of the Seven & Five Society, and of the National Society, but his active involvement was short-lived as he resisted regimentation. During the Second World War he served with the civil defence camouflage section at Leamington Spa. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Tate Gallery, the Arts Council and the British Museum. Pallant House Gallery held a major retrospective exhibition of his work in 2015.
