Sandle, Michael

Sandle, Michael (1936– ). British sculptor and printmaker, active mainly in Germany. He was born in Weymouth and studied at Douglas School of Art and Technology, Isle of Man, 1951–4. After doing his National Service in the Royal Artillery, he studied printmaking at the Slade School, London, 1956–9, then briefly worked as a lithographer in Paris. During the 1960s he taught at various art colleges in Britain and Canada, then in 1973 settled in Germany to teach at Pforzheim. In 1980 he became professor of sculpture at the Karlsruhe Academy. Sandle has concentrated on producing large, elaborate, carefully crafted works (typically in bronze) that echo the tradition of 19th-century public monuments but in a modern idiom and an anti-authoritarian vein; instead of glorifying events, they attack the abuse of power. An example is A Mighty Blow for Freedom (Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, 1988), showing a powerful figure smashing a television set. In 1997 he resigned from the Royal Academy in protest against its showing a controversial exhibition of contemporary art (see AVANT-GARDE).