Jean Doyle image

BIOGRAPHY > Jean Doyle

Jean Doyle

Jean Doyle is one of South Africa's leading sculptors. She has been sculpting professionally for over thirty five years and is considered to be one of the most established sculptors in the country. Her magnificent bronzes are renowned all over the world and are found in many public and private collections. They adorn the homes of many prominent people both here and abroad.

Doyle has had numerous solo exhibitions and has taken part in many group shows. These include the Florence Biennale, Salzburg World Art and Antique Fair, Gent Art Fair and Amsterdam Whitney International Fine Art, New York. Her latest exhibitions include Capital Culture, London and Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.

Public sculptures include Just Nuisance in Simonstown, Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom at the Victor Verster Prison in Paarl (a copy of this magnificent bronze also stands outside the South African Embassy in Washington DC), the Angolan national monument Kifangondo in Luanda and Dr Hastings Banda in Lilongwe, Malawi.

All her work is cast by the Doyle Art Foundry, where she works in close collaboration with the staff who makes the waxes, the moulds and bronze casts. The foundry is run by her husband, Mike, and was opened in 1980.

In 2013, Jean Doyle was awarded the CEO Magazines Lifetime Achiever Award in the category of Art for South Africa's Most Influential Women in Business and Government.

In 2014, Jean was a nominee in the Department of Arts and Culture, Mbokodo Awards for best female South African Sculptor.