Vincent F. Butler is widely considered to be one of the leading figurative sculptors in Scotland. Born in Manchester in 1933, he was trained at the Edinburgh College of Art and at the Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan.

After a decade of living in Italy and then Nigeria, he opened his studio in the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh in 1963 and has lived in Scotland ever since. He was head of the School of Sculpture at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and then lecturer at the Edinburgh College of Art until 1989, specialising in life modelling and bronze casting.

He was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) in 1977 and to the Royal Glasgow Institute (RGI) in 1984. He has had many solo exhibitions both in Scotland and in England and is a regular exhibitor at the major societies in Britain.

His work is also on show at the Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh, the Gerber gallery in Glasgow, the Lemon Street Gallery in Truro and the Corrymella Scott Gallery in Newcastle. His special interest is the human figure and he has worked mainly in bronze, although his repertoire contains other subject matter including still lifes and occasionally animals and some of his work is in stone or wood.

One of the leading experts in bronze casting techniques, in 1997 he published a book "Casting for Sculptors" (A&C Black, London) which describes all the methods of this ancient art.

His most recent portraits include a bust of HRH Prince Phillip, a bust of Lord Sutherland and a head of Liz Lochhead.

See the sculpture galleries