Contemporary Bronze sculpture, Wood carving, Relief Carving, Wildlife Sculpture and HMS Victory.

Contemporary sculptor and Woodcarver Ian G Brennan has been a professional artist for over twenty five years and although he produces limited edition bronzes of of his realistic and heraldic sculptures, the vast majority of his work is involved with creating a wide variety of detailed prototype and bespoke 'one off 'sculptures depicting a wide variety of subjects in a many different materials including wood, marble, resin, sterling silver and bronze.

These commissions are as diverse as producing sculptures designed to suite the ancient splendour of historic buildings such as Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral were his rather unique skills in reproducing wood carvings and bronze sculpture from a by-gone age are often required, to the more modern surroundings of Company receptions and Board Rooms; Recently Ian was also commissioned to create two large bas-relief sculptures now placed amongst the grandeur and elegance of the Grand Lobby of the Cunard Liner, Queen Victoria.

St George’s Chapel Windsor – Grand Lobby Queen Victoria – St Paul’s’ Cathedral - The Lady Chapel Westminster Abbey

Currently there are thirty one sculptures created by Ian G Brennan on public display in Windsor Castle, these sculptures have been produced in a wide variety of styles and often vary from the more traditional heraldic sculptures, to sculptures which are somewhat more realistic in design. At the time of the Royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, there were thirty two sculptures created by Ian which were also commissioned by the Royal Household on display in Westminster Abbey.

his website explores a selection of the over 300 wood carvings, bronze and silver sculptures, sculptor Ian G Brennan has created during the past twenty seven years. Although there are a number of examples of Ian’s more recent sculptures on this website the majority of the sculptures shown here are of Ian’s early work with most of his commissions for private clients and particularly those for the Royal Household having been omitted; however contemporarysculptor.com does still give a good idea of the typical style and detail that sculptor and woodcarver Ian G Brennan has created for well over two decades.

Lord Nelson’s Flagship HMS Victory – The HMS Victory sculpture – Cunard’s Queen Victoria Logo's - The Warsash bas-relief carving

Ian a self taught sculptor, first became a professional wood carver in 1984 and then later in 1996 also began producing his contemporary sculptures in other materials particularly bronze and sterling silver, initially using his original woodcarvings as the ‘master copy’. Ian's first exhibition in an art gallery was in London’s Mayfair in 1985, he then began exhibiting his realistic woodcarvings and bronze sculpture widely throughout the UK. During 1990 the Museum Service also toured a large collection of Ian’s sculptures as a 'one man' exhibition to various museums in England throughout the year.

Ian G Brennan’s most recent exhibition in an art gallery was in the Mall Gallery in London in1997 and since then Ian as has been working almost exclusively to commission so has been unable to concentrate on assembling a collection of his work to exhibit in galleries. However working alongside his commissions, Ian has finally managed to put together a large rather unique collection of wood carvings and bronze sculpture and is once again looking forward to exhibiting his work in art galleries in the near future.

Although working exclusively to commission has prevented Ian from exhibited in art galleries for well over a decade, he has on occasions exhibited examples of his work in the somewhat more formal surroundings of Museums; The Queens Room on-board the Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2; Burlington House; Home of the Royal Academy of Arts and also within the historic Royal setting of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where Ian has also been invited on a number of occasions to give fully illustrated talks about the various aspects of his work and in particular how he became a sculptor.

Click to image to enlarge

In 1989 Ian was officially appointed the 'Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Most Honourable Order of the Bath' and since that time he has spent an average of five months of each year working exclusively on a wide variety of unique sculptures for the British Royal Household.

Initially these commissions for the Royal Household were mostly traditionally heraldic in design, often involved with creating the original carved, painted and gilded Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the newly installed Ladies and Knights of the Garter, along with the carved and painted Crests for the newly installed Knights of the Bath.

However from 1993 onwards these commissions for the Royal Household also included creating a wide variety of private sculptures. These private commissions now account for around a third of the time Ian spends working for the Royal Household.

Many of these private commissions for the Royal Household are far more realistic in design than some of the more traditional sculptures commissions Ian also receives, all of which are created in fine detail. The subjects also often vary from the more traditional heraldic sculptures, such as Royal Lions, Griffins and Unicorns; to subjects more naturalistic in style and include lifelike sculptures of Dogs, Pheasants and Horses, as well as wide variety of sculptures depicting the human form.

For the most part these commissions Ian receives for the Royal Household are usually quite evenly spaced out throughout the year and he is often found working on several totally different sculptures all at the same time, however on occasions one of these sculptures is required more urgently and therefore has to take precedent over the others. Although the sculptures are usually commissioned well in advance on one recent occasion in particular, a sculpture was commissioned in late February for a service to be held in a few months time in Westminster Abbey and was completed and delivered just days before the service took place.

Seventy three of these one hundred and seven commissions Ian has received to date from the Royal Household are currently on public display in Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle. As well as commissions for the British Royal Family, there have also been a wide variety of unique commissions for other Royal Families including HM King Juan Carlos of Spain, HM King Harald V of Norway, HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan.

These diverse commissions for the Royal Household can also be well illustrated when Ian’s was recently commissioned to create sculptures of a Stag, Labrador and a Mute Swan along with the Royal Crest and Sword for HRH Prince William of Wales; The Duke of Cambridge. Ian was also informed by HM The Queen at Windsor Castle that HRH Prince William was now to become the 1000 Knight of the Garter to hold this the highest order of chivalry, since 1348.

The Duke of Cambridge’s Royal Crest and Sword – The Prince’s Crest and Sword on display in St Georges Chapel Windsor – close up of the small red escallop.

HRH Prince William’s Royal Crest and sword made by Ian G Brennan with part of the sword having been made from original oak timbers from HMS Victory, the royal crest and sword are currently on display in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. As the second in line to the British throne; Prince William; The Duke of Cambridge, like his father the Prince of Wales, also uses a white label of three points attached to the Lion but in addition there is a small carved red ‘escallop’ from the Spencer Arms to honour the memory of the Prince’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Two of Ian's other commissions for the Royal Family were a pair of similar sculptures created for HM The Queen's two sons, HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex and HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York when they were appointed Royal Knights of the Garter. Both of these sculptures were delivered to Windsor Castle during 2007.

The Queen Victoria Crest and modern Cunard Logo commissioned for the Grand Lobby of the new Cunard Liner the Queen Victoria

Selected Commissions

Stages of a Sculpture

Wildlife Sculptures