david williams-ellis

A life in sculpture

"The key to a really successful sculpture is to catch that little bit of magic that gets you in the stomach and makes you breathe in. I think the essence is to catch that energy and feeling of something about to happen and leaves you, the viewer, with anticipation."

Over the last few years, David’s work has focussed on commemorating significant moments in history for Britain. The D Day memorial at Gold Beach and the Mancity Legends at the Etihad Stadium hold in them a passion and vitality that immortalise those chapters in history they depict. These public sculptures unify and connect those people who pilgrimage to see them on their site-specific grounds, they instil into those who gaze up at them a sense of pride and inspiration. The effervescent spirit and dynamism they give is a testament to David’s ability to understand the human form and capture those important historical moments.  

It is the powerful energy of David’s work that takes it beyond the ornamental and gives it a unique definitive contemporary edge. His artwork and career was described by Jussi Pylkkänen, the global president of Christie's auction house as; ‘Without doubt the greatest living sculptor working in portraiture because he captures the energy of movement, a very complex thing to do’.  

Other significant works that have impacted both David and their audience have been Alan Turing at Sherborne School, Aberdeen Fishing Memorial and Yves du Monceau at the University of Louvain in Belgium. Today his work sits in international private collections and can be seen dominating public spaces and flagship buildings from Scone Palace in Perthshire to the IFC building in Shanghai and Swires in Hong Kong.  

Other than commissions, David’s figurative artwork has been exhibited worldwide in galleries and private collections. Nationally he has shown at many galleries including Portland Gallery, Agnews, Sladmore and Cadogan Contemporary. They can also be seen by appointment at his studio in Oxfordshire.

david williams-ellis
"I endeavour to capture a person's unique mien in bronze. To capture who they truly are as a being not just what they appear."
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Notable Public Commissions

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Commissioned by the Normandy Memorial Trust to create the D-Day Sculpture. The sculpture was unveiled on 6th June 2019 in the presence of Prime Minister Theresa May and President Emmanuel Macron on 75th anniversary of D-Day at the Normandy Memorial, Ver sur Mer, to commemorate the 22,442 soldiers under British command who died on D-Day and the days thereafter.
David was selected by Aberdeen City Council to create a sculpture to commemorate all the men and women who have served in the city’s fishing Industry. It will consist of two sculptures, a fisherwoman and a fisherman, that will stand outside the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, due for completion and unveiling in the first half of 2018.​
In 2016 Williams-Ellis was commissioned by the Eden Rivers Trust to sculpt two over life-size bronzes of a cock and hen salmon to be sold by the trust in order to raise money to support their campaign and fundraising initiatives to save the wild salmon and stop their decline in both the River Eden and other rivers across Britain.
Commissioned by Mary Yapp of the Albany Gallery, Kyffin’s agent in Wales and designed for Oriel Ynys Mon, where the Kyffin Williams Collection is housed.
Commissioned in 2008 the 10-ton statue now stands outside the south stand of the Prac Y Scarlets stadium.

Portrait Bust Commissions

Alan Turing, Sherborne School​
Henry Harper-Crewe and Lord Vernon, National Trust
​Trevor Clay, The Royal College of Nurses​
Robert Willett
The Hon Edward Fairfax​
The Duchess of Abercorn
Ladies Tamara and Edwina Grosvenor​
Lord Shuttleworth, The National Trust
Otis, Isaac, Tara and Merlin Ferry​
Lord Aberconway, Bodnant House​
Lord Glamis, Glamis Castle​
The Lord St. Oswald, Nostell Priorty, The National Trust
Sir David Butter​
Lord Ballyedmond​
Simon Cadbury​
Desmond Thompson, Queens University, Belfast
​Camilla Baring​
Sir Richard Brooke
Duncan Maclaren
Nicholas Durlacher, L.I.F.F.E​
Professor Barry O’Donnell, The Royal College of Surgeons
​Lord Soulsby, The Royal College of Vetinarary Surgeons
Gordon Richards, Carlisle Racecourse​
Sir Kyffin Williams, The Royal Cambrian Academy
Sir Denis Rooke, Loughborough University​
John Monckton, The Knights of Malta​
John Chichester Constable, Burton Constable Hall​
Anthony Berry, Berry Brothers Wine
Henry Hoare for C. Hoare & Co., London