Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's On
  • Visit
  • Art
    • Discover Art
    • Artists
    • Artworks
    • Stories
    Stories
    Stories

    Watch, listen and read

  • Learn
    • Schools
    • Tate Kids
    • Research
    • Activities and workshops
    Tate Kids
    Tate Kids

    Games, quizzes and films for kids

  • Shop
Become a Member
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • Families
  • Accessibility
  • Schools
  • Private tours
  • Discover Art
  • Artists
  • Artworks
  • Stories
  • Schools
  • Tate Kids
  • Research
  • Activities and workshops
Tate Logo
Become a Member

John Hoskin

1921–1990

Black Beetle 1957
© reserved
License this image

Biography

John Hoskin (1921–1990) was a British sculptor from Cheltenham. He began drawing when he returned from Germany after serving in the Second World War. Terry Frost, a painter from the St. Ives school encouraged him to become a sculptor. John while working as an architect's draftsman but longing to become an artist, knew of the group working in St.Ives and decided to hitch-hike there one day. By a remarkable co-incidence, he was picked up and given a lift by Terry. By the time they arrived, John knew being a sculptor was his destiny. It was he that said "as if up until that journey my life had been playing out of tune."

He began sculpting in the early 1950s, working with metal. His works combined shiny curved surfaces with contrasting black welded comb of rods that held them together, a conflict of geometric and organic forms.

His work can be found in the Tate Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Council collection and various other galleries around the world — in America, Yugoslavia, New Zealand and Australia. He refused to allow one style to dominate his sculptures, even though this often alienated him from those who had supported his earlier works.

He has taught at the Bath Academy in Corsham, and as the head of painting at Winchester, a visiting lecturer at Newcastle, and a Professor of Fine Art at Leicester Polytechnic.

This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. Spotted a problem? Let us know.

Read full Wikipedia entry

Artworks

  • Standing Figure

    John Hoskin
    1960
  • Black Beetle

    John Hoskin
    1957
  • Square Flat

    John Hoskin
    1963

In the shop

Browse the shop
Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved