Steve Winterburn
Wisdom of the Forest | 2022

Featured art: 'Wisdom of the Forest'; limited edition bronze sculpture with natural burnt orange patina, £15,000.

Creating the 'Wisdom of the Forest' orangutan

Master sculptor Steve Winterburn’s newest limited edition sculpture is a moving portrait of an orangutan, ‘Wisdom of the Forest’, a creature he respects greatly, which is reflected in this incredible piece. Steve is well-renowned for capturing the power, beauty, strength and resilience of the animals he sculpts, and his latest bronze is no exception. In a first for his collections with Castle Fine Art the sculpture is finished with a beautiful new burnt-orange patina. This expertly-applied texture is synonymous with Steve’s wildlife sculptures, with the looseness of the style and finish allowing him to express the soul of the animal.

“The way the orangutan looks after the whole family is amazing. Their wisdom is beyond great to sit with and to study, and they have a Buddha-like aura about them. They have a calm and gentle walk for a primate of their size,” Steve explains. “They have such maturity, and you get that feel of their wisdom, and it's the wisdom of the forest that I love.”

Steve has long been interested in saving the orangutan, a species in rapid decline due to the disappearance of its habitats and has spent many years working with charities to save them. This has meant he has been able to travel extensively and have first-hand encounters with some of the magnificent animals he represents in his sculptures, bringing a unique personal perspective to his creations. He believes that sculpting a creature many would never encounter can trigger a more urgent and visceral response to the problems they are facing.

What struck him most was their wisdom navigating the forest, their great strength, and immense amount of power. Steve speaks often about the royalty of the orangutan, the honour of being in their presence and the way they look after their ecosystem.

Glyn Washington discusses the work of Steve Winterburn and his Black Panther Series

Born in Coventry in 1959, it wasn’t until 1994 that Steve Winterburn turned to the art of sculpting full-time. Since then, his unrelenting work ethic and limitless imagination have made him a real tour de force in the world of sculpture and bronze casting, and I’ve seen him reach incredible milestones as a self-taught artist.

Since 2001, he has lived in Yorkshire, where a year later he founded his own studio and foundry, Yorkshire Fine Art. Born out of a desire to understand everything about his material, Steve has become a true artisan of his craft dedicated to the highly skilled, labour-intensive process of traditional lost wax bronze casting.

Typically, sculptors of Steve’s calibre entrust the casting of their work to commercial foundries; with Steve, we at Castle Fine Art are continuously rewarded by the results that can only come from the artist himself handling every aspect from creation to completion, with his astute eye and honed instinct for form and balance.