Early Career

David Williams-Ellis was first introduced to sculpture at school. During his A-Levels, the art master, a painter by profession but sculptor by inclination, recognised his talent and took him on as a student. After leaving school at the age of eighteen, David travelled to Italy, where he encountered a range of artists working in Florence who inspired him to pursue an artistic career. He began his formal training at the drawing studio of Nerina Simi, an experience that provided an important foundation for his practice. He then spent some time working with wood carvers in Italy, further developing his skill.

David was later awarded a scholarship from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, which supports emerging artists working in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He subsequently spent a year and a half carving marble in Carrara. These experiences formed an important part of his training, and at the age of 19 he was fortunate enough to start selling his work.

Living and working in Italy, David drew inspiration from the painting and sculpture of the Early and High Renaissance. A later trip to Canada introduced him to Inuit sculpture, offering a striking contrast to the Renaissance works that had influenced him and bringing another dimension to his practice.

Working Practices

David works across a range of scales, from smaller works to large-scale commissions. Early in his career, practical and financial constraints meant that he predominantly produced smaller sculptures. Following his move to a larger studio in the Cotswolds, however, he gained the space and freedom to work on a much larger scale.

The studio was purpose-built to provide the space and natural light required for his practice. David explains that sculpture requires light from multiple directions, allowing him to work around the subject and understand it in three dimensions. Alongside a good northern light, the studio has skylights at different levels, as well as low windows, enabling him to observe his sculptures from every angle.

David prefers to work from life. He creates drawings and maquettes of his models, but uses these primarily as points of reference rather than designs to be enlarged directly. Working from life allows him to capture the essence and spontaneity of the figure. For David, movement is central to this process. Rather than capturing a completed action, he seeks the moments immediately before it, when the subtlety, tension and energy of the movement can be felt.

For David, visiting a site is an essential part of the commission process. It allows him to understand the scale and character of the surroundings and determine how the sculpture will sit within its setting. A successful sculpture should neither overwhelm the landscape nor become lost within it. David believes that sculpture should work in a variety of environments, whether in a garden, a house, the sea or a pond, but most importantly, it must work as a sculpture in its own right, creating its own sense of movement and energy.

Public Commissions: The British Normandy Memorial

Over the years, David has been asked to create a number of public commissions, including The Legends at Manchester City Football Club, The Eternal Boy for Harrow School, and the Aberdeen Fishing Memorial. Perhaps his best known is the British Normandy Memorial, created to commemorate the 22,442 British servicemen who lost their lives during the D-Day landings.

The memorial was conceived by BBC correspondent Nicholas Witchell and English veteran George Batts. At the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the pair stood in front of the American, Canadian and French memorials and noticed the absence of a memorial dedicated to the British. They subsequently established a committee, which over several years raised £26 million for the project. Architect Liam O'Connor was appointed to develop the memorial.

It was O'Connor who initially approached David about creating the sculpture. Three years later, after submitting his proposal outlining his approach to the commission, David was selected to create the work.

The memorial was unveiled in 2019 above the Mulberry Harbour at Gold Beach, marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Atop a seven-foot plinth, David's sculpture depicts three soldiers as they disembark from their landing craft. Through their posture and movement, the sculpture conveys the apprehension, endeavour and tension of the scene, with the weight and movement of their bodies carefully captured.

The base, shaped as a truncated pyramid, can be interpreted as either the landing craft or an arrow, reflecting the soldiers' movement towards the beach.

The commission held particular significance for David, whose father served in the Navy during the Second World War. At the age of 23 or 24, his father was stationed in the Channel, commanding a torpedo boat. Although he did not land on D-Day, he transported supplies and ammunition across the Channel. Many of his father's friends also served during the war, making the commission particularly poignant.

Sunrise

David's portfolio also includes a number of private commissions. He  creates many of his works as editions, and one such example is Sunrise. From an edition of nine works, the sculpture being offered at Dreweatts was the original concept, however later developing into a larger model.

The work depicts two figures playing with one another, forming a shape reminiscent of a chalice or heart. The motif is one that David particularly loves: two figures balancing and responding to one another to create a unified composition. For him, it is important that the figures are not perceived as two separate forms, but as a single composition in which each relies on the other.

The sculpture presented a number of logistical challenges for David, particularly because of the positioning of the sitter. Rather than working with two different models, David chose to use one, as the loose styling meant that the individual characteristics of the sitter were less important. Instead, he focused on the hands, positioning of the bodies and arch of the backs to achieve the tension and energy central to the composition.

It is this balance between movement and stillness, and between two figures and a single unified form, that gives Sunrise its distinctive sense of drama.

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Auction Details

Tuesday 8 & Wednesday 9 September 2026, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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