John Wragg RA (d.2020)

John Wragg studied at York School of Art from 1953 to 1956 and subsequently at the Royal College of Art, London from 1956 to 1960. He went on to teach at Chelsea School of Art from 1961 until 1990. Wragg’s first solo exhibitions were held at the Hanover Gallery, London in 1963, 1966 and 1970, and at Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris in 1968. He continued to enjoy solo shows throughout the UK, including Bridge Street Gallery, Bath (1982), Quinton Green Fine Art, London (1985) and England & Co, London (1994). Wragg featured in many key group shows throughout Britain, Europe and the United States. These included the Open Air Sculpture Exhibition, at Battersea Park, London (1966), Pittsburgh International, in the United States (1967), and Biennale di Scultura di Arese, in Milan (1980).

Wragg received a Sainsbury Award in 1960, and in 1966 was winner of Sainsbury Sculpture Competition, resulting in the commission of a work for King’s Road, Chelsea. He won an Arts Council Major Award in 1977 and the Chantrey Bequest in 1981. Wragg was elected Royal Academician in 1991 and a Member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1996. He is known for his powerful and evocative portraits. Wragg lived and worked in Wiltshire.