Bryan Kneale RA (b. 1930) originally studied painting at Douglas School of Art in 1947 and then at the Royal Academy Schools, London from 1948 to 1952 where he received a Rome Scholarship in painting (1949-51). In 1960 he moved from painting to sculpting and in 1968 was Head of Sculpture at Hornsey College of Art and Design. Most of his subsequent teaching career was spent at the Royal College of Art, London, where he was Tutor (1963-1980) and Senior Tutor (1980-85), Head of Sculpture (1985-90) and Professor of Drawing (1990-95). He was also Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools from 1980 to 1987. Kneale's first solo show with paintings was in 1954 with the Redfern Gallery, London. He continued to exhibit there regularly until 1986. Other solo shows include a retrospective of his work at the Whitechapel Art Gallery (1966), the Serpentine Gallery, London (1978), and further retrospectives at the Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London (1986), Royal West of England Academy (1995), and a drawing retrospective at the Natural History Museum (1991). Kneale has participated in many group shows, both in the UK and Europe. These include Sculpture International, Battersea Park, London (1963-1966), British Sculpture in the 60s, Tate Gallery, London (1966), New Art, Hayward Gallery 1975 and Chelsea Harbour Sculpture Show(1993). Kneale also curated and exhibited in British Sculptors, Royal Academy of Arts (1972) and Jubilee Exhibition of British Sculpture, Battersea Park (1977).
Kneale won the Leverhulme Prize in 1952, the Daily Express Young Painters' Prize in 1955 and received an Arts Council Purchase Award in 1969. He was elected Royal Academician in 1974 (ARA 1970) and is a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts and a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Kneale lives and works in London.