Anthony Smith (sculptor)

Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith in his studio
Born	(1984-02-09) 9 February 1984 (age 33) Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge
Notable work	Alfred Russell Wallace statue, Natural History Museum, London; Young Darwin statue for Christ's College, Cambridge; Guinea £2 Coin for the Royal Mint.
Website	www.anthonysmithart.co.uk

Anthony Smith FLS (born February 1984) is a British sculptor who works in bronze. He is known for his wildlife sculptures as well as his depictions of well-known figures, including Charles Darwin, Ian Fleming, and Alfred Russel Wallace. He has been awarded major public commissions including the design of a new £2 coin for the Royal Mint, the first new statue for London's Natural History Museum in more than eighty years, and a life-sized statue of Charles Darwin for Christ's College, Cambridge, which was unveiled by HRH Prince Philip in 2009. In addition to his sculpting work, he is also an award-winning photographer, specialising in wildlife photography.

Smith was born in 1984 in Glasgow, Scotland. He grew up in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before returning to the UK at the age of eight. He later attended Winchester College, where he discovered his interest in both sculpting and natural history. Whilst still studying at school, aged eighteen, he began sculpting and exhibiting his first bronze sculptures. He went on to study Natural Sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating in 2005 with a degree in Zoology (MA, hons).

Upon graduating in 2005, he set up a studio in Cambridge and began sculpting full-time, specialising in wildlife and human figure subjects. His first major commission came in 2007, when he sculpted a portrait bust of Carl Linnaeus for the Linnean Society of London, commemorating the 300th anniversary of Linnaeus's birth. Other commissions soon followed, including a portrait bust of the famous author the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming. His first life-sized statue was commissioned for his old Cambridge College in 2009 to commemorate the bicentenary of its most famous alumnus, Charles Darwin. Smith was inspired to study zoology after first reading On the Origin of Species at the age of sixteen, and he was keen to depict Darwin as a young man, in contrast to the more common depiction of him as an elderly, bearded gentleman, as he was in later life. The life-sized statue was unveiled by HRH Prince Philip and was subsequently shortlisted for the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture 2009.