"There are moments, and they're wonderful. For example, when I sail into the harbour at Valletta and see my Malta Siege Bell Memorial, with the bell which rings for two minutes every mid-day, I feel ill with pride." This statement was made by the renowned British artist, Michael Sandle RA, during an interview with Fiona Maddocks for the Royal Academy magazine. The emotional state that he describes is that provoked by his being the artist and creator of the iconic memorial, a work which Sandle considers to be one of his finest achievements.
The Isle of Man Post Office's set of stamps focusing on Michael Sandle RA's works. Source: Isle of Man Post Office
Sandle was last March honoured by the Isle of Man Post Office with a six-set stamp issue showing a selection of major public works by the world-renowned sculptor. Sandle was received by the Isle of Man government at a special reception in his honour by way of thanks for his kind donation of one of his works to the Manx people. The artist himself was raised on the Isle of Man. The commemorative Isle of Man's post office stamps feature Sandle's sculptures in various locations in the world, including two located on the Isle of Man called Memorial to the Lifeboat Men and The Viking as well as Sandle's Malta Siege Bell Memorial.
Malta Siege Bell Memorial Stamp. Source: Isle of Man Post Office
The Siege Bell Memorial is that installed opposite the Lower Barakka Gardens in Valletta. Due to its location, as well as its timeless aesthetic, the memorial seamlessly manages to capture one's eye and attention when entering the Grand Harbour, while simultaneously blending in with the city's landscape. The monument was made in honour of the 50th anniversary of Malta receiving the George Cross. Sandle was originally commissioned for the work in 1989 and it took four years to complete, being inaugurated in 1993. The memorial addresses some of Malta's most dire yet tenacious years. Sandle not only keeps the memory of the war alive through the auditory means of the bell which rings twice a day, but also through the large sculpture of the Unknown Soldier, which features a large figure lying down with his feet towards the sea as he rests in remembrance of all those souls who died in the war.
Strangely, even though the monument has become an iconic inclusion to the Valletta skyline, the artist himself is, unfortunately, less well-known to locals. Sandle is a British sculptor and artist as well as an elected member of the Royal Academy of Arts. Furthermore, he is also a critically acclaimed painter and engraver. Sandle received artistic training from the Chester School of Art and studied printmaking for three years in the late 1950s at the renowned Slade School of Art at University College London. He first began his artistic training in 1951, where he studied at the Douglas School of Art and Technology on the Isle of Man. Sandle found himself on the Isle of Man, an island located to the east of Ireland and the west of England, not due to coincidence but rather circumstance. After his family home in Plymouth was bombed in WWII, his father was stationed at the Isle of Man, and from that point on a bond between Sandle and the Isle was born.
He was Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, Alberta, until 1971, and held a similar post at the University of British Columbia (1971-72). In 1973 he moved to Germany and since 1980 has been Professor of Sculpture at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Karlsruhe. He was also a member of the Faculty of Engraving at the British School in Rome (1976-82).
Sandle was elected a Royal Academician in 1989, but he resigned in 1998 in objection to the Sensation exhibition. He was re-elected in 2001. In 1994 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Sandle has had a prolific, albeit at times controversial, career. This occasional controversy is primarily due to the themes that Sandle chooses to depict. He tackles subjects such as politics, war and destruction. Sandle's first-hand experience of war makes his work ring with authenticity and, at times, blunt honesty. For example, in 1986 Sandle was commissioned by the British Art Medal Society to create a commemorative medal. This resulted in him creating what he called The Belgrano Medal: The Medal of Dishonour. This medal of dishonour, as Sandle himself called it, depicted Margaret Thatcher alongside the inscription Imperatrix Impudens, which translates to "shameless empress". When this was originally shown to the public in 1980s conservative Britain, it was considered quite the scandal due to the obvious political nature of the work. It is today recognised as a fierce example of freedom of speech to emerge during Thatcher's Britain and the drawing of the medal has even been included in the collection of the British Museum.
Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci and Michael Sandle in London
During the 2007 Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, one of his works, the Iraq Triptych, which shows the naked Tony and Cherie Blair expelled from the Eden of 10 Downing Street and surrounded by symbolic images of the war, made headlines in the press and caused a scandal. It won the Hugh Casson Prize. At the Duveen Galleries in Tate Britain some years ago, one could have seen a sculpture he made in response to the Cold War, including the Vietnam War, the most infamous and bloody of several "proxy wars" fought between Western powers and Communist regimes. Sandle is one of the few committed artists living today. His works are always tied to events that touch on the tragedy of man.
Another of Sandle's iconic works is A Twentieth Century Memorial, a large sculpture produced in the 1970s and housed in the Tate Britain collection. The sculpture was produced in reaction to the violent quelling by the American National Guard of anti-Vietnam war riots at the Berkeley UCLA campus. The early 20th century invasion of Iraq prompted Sandle to identify parallels between the 1970s and the continuation of Western aggression in later decades. In fact, the title of the work was changed from the original A Mickey-Mouse Machine-Gun Monument for America to reflect Britain's direct involvement in such wars and invasions.
Sandle struck up a relationship with Maltese academic and artist Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci during one of the latter's frequent research trips to London. The two shared parallel thoughts on war and invasion and how these are responded to by artists. Political commitment and artistic activity are inextricably intertwined in their practice, and hence a lasting friendship was born. Sandle and Schembri Bonaci also share their involvement with university education and the commitment to provoke students to look upon the world with a critical lens. Sandle's Siege Bell Memorial for Malta forms part of his enduring resistance to injustice and the horrors of war which plague mankind.
During rapturous sprees around London with Schembri Bonaci, Sandle, having been raised on the Isle of Man, would often, and always in euphoric way, recount the metaphorical-poetic myth of his birth on the convoy approaching Malta during the Second World War. In fact, he was christened on the historic vessel, the Ark Royal, which was vital for the 1941 Malta Convoys. The Ark Royal was sunk after the heroic action of saving Malta from the tight siege grip of the Fascists and Nazis. This event led Sandle to mythicise his birth, thus making both islands - the Isle of Man and Malta - genetically integrated within his biography. These intriguing points bridging Sandle with the Isle of Man and Malta have continued with the stamp issue showing works by the artist located on both islands.
The Isle of Man's set of stamps celebrating Michael Sandle are available for purchase on the Isle of Man's post office website and are only available for a short period of time due to the commemorative nature of the set. Thanks are due to the team at the Isle of Man Post Office, namely Maxine Cannon, Paul Ford, Lacey Cullen, Leigh Cadwallader and Sarah Tulbo, for sharing news on the stamp issue and for the images provided.
For further information visit https://www.iompost.com/stamps-coins/collection/sculptures-of-michael-sandle-ra/