Isle of Man sculptor donates 'important' work to Manx Museum

Michael Sandle created A Second World War Memorial in 1981

A renowned sculptor who grew up on the Isle of Man has gifted one of his "most important" pieces to the Manx Museum.

Michael Sandle RA has donated his sculpture A Second World War Memorial to Manx National Heritage to make up part of the "national art collection".

The bronze work shows a Lancaster aeroplane breaking through the walls of a bunker, yet remaining intact.

An MNH spokeswoman said Mr Sandle was "widely recognised as one of the finest sculptors in the world".

The piece has so far been on loan to MNH and Mr Sandle said the donation expressed his gratitude for "having the extraordinarily good luck to have been brought up on the Isle of Man".

Mr Sandle moved to the island in 1942 and later studied at the Douglas School of Art from 1951 to 1954.

He said the decision to donate the piece was "influenced by the fact too that I am really quite old now", adding: "I wanted a good home for one of my most important works."

A Second World War Memorial joins a number of other pieces by Mr Sandle in the art collection, including a second sculpture called Mahnmal, meaning memorial, some drawings and an etching.

The artwork sits alongside other pieces by Michael Sandle in the national gallery

Mr Sandle's works about war are said to reflect his own thoughts on warfare, which he attributes to his experiences of the Blitz in Plymouth as a young child.

"As a reasonably thoughtful human being it would be difficult to not be affected by the awfulness of deliberately bombing civilians," he said.

"The sculpture A Second World War Memorial is exactly about that."

MNH's head of collections, Kirsty Neate, said the museum had benefitted "hugely" from the donation, "as have the people of the Isle of Man who can rightly be proud to have his work in their national collection".