William Turnbull

William Turnbull was a prominent Scottish artist.

Biography of William Turnbull

William Turnbull was born in 1922 in Dundee, Scotland. His early fascination with art began with copying magazine illustrations. Turnbull's early life was marked by economic hardship; at 15, he left school to work part-time jobs after his father lost his job as a shipyard engineer during the Great Depression. He attended evening drawing classes at Dundee University, where landscape artist James Macintosh Patrick and illustrator Fred Mould taught him.

In 1939, Turnbull began working at DC Thomson, where he was first exposed to commercial illustration, contemporary European art, and literature. During World War II, he served as a pilot in the RAF, training in Canada and serving in India and Sri Lanka.

After the war, Turnbull enrolled at The Slade School of Fine Art in London but became disillusioned with its conservative approach to art. He transferred to the sculpture department, where he met Eduardo Paolozzi and Nigel Henderson, who shared his interest in modernist art. In 1948, Turnbull moved to Paris, seeking a more vibrant artistic environment.

In the 1950s, Turnbull had a joint exhibition with Paolozzi at the Hanover Gallery in London and participated in significant exhibitions, including the "Young Sculptors" exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and "New Aspects Of British Sculpture" at the 1952 Venice Biennale. He was a member of the Independent Group, which influenced the development of Pop Art.

Throughout his career, Turnbull exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Whitechapel Gallery, Serpentine Gallery, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. He also had a survey exhibition at the Tate's Duveen Hall in 2006 and a show at Waddington Galleries featuring previously unseen works.'

The artist died in 2012.