Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century the possession of works of sculpture was, almost exclusively, the prerogative of royalty and the aristocracy - those with great houses, long halls and galleries in which to display it. Marble was the preferred medium for these collectors, and Greek and Roman statuary rubbed shoulders with works by Canova, Thorwaldsen, Gibson and others - awesome and admirable but hardly covetable to a wider public. However, with the spread of prosperity, a new class of collectors gradually emerged who, whilst admiring such grand works, began to appreciate that there was a place in the home for sculpture of a more modest scale.

New Sculpture is the name given to the movement that responded to this shift in demand, and that encompassed a number of formal and conceptual changes. The influence of Michelangelo, Donatello, Cellini and Della Robbia mixed with a fresh analysis of realism and a growing interest in symbolism. Subject matter was drawn freely from history, legend, mythology and everyday life. Rome, Paris and London became the thriving centres for this late-nineteenth century sculptural revival - sculptors, foundry men and models moving between the three cities. The final decades of the nineteenth century - and the first of the twentieth - are, in sculptural terms, truly among the most creative, fertile and inventive that Europe has witnessed.

Robert Bowman presents this catalogue in partnership with the Fine Art Society, a gallery synonymous with the New Sculpture movement. It accompanied the major selling exhibition of 2015, showing some of the most famous sculptures produced by these revolutionary artists, and aims both to stimulate a deeper understanding of the New Sculpture, and to encourage a wider appreciation of its significance in the history of sculpture in Britain. Peyton Skipworth's introduction places the movement in context, while over 100 rich colour photographs show the figures up close and from varying angles, each statue accompanied by commentary and a select bibliography.