Maurice Day

Epithet: Artist (1929-2007)

Biography: Maurice Day was an artist and a former tutor at the Isle of Man College.

Day specialised in sculpture, and it is often considered that his artistry is like no other. This is partly due to two defining events of the artist's life, which circumscribed both his art and personal life. The first was the loss of the artist's legs, which occurred in an accident - and the second was the release of images beginning in 1944 of Nazi concentration camps, after being liberated by the allies in the Second World War. These events shaped Day’s art - which, consequently, works to portray large, powerful, and impactful themes, such as human suffering - despite the physically small scale the artist's work was often produced on.

In his sculptures, Day reused scrap metal. Although his work was often centred around large themes, the artist also had an interest in small creatures - and this interest was also reflected in his work. In 1999, Manx National Heritage exhibited an abundance of Day’s work at the Manx Museum, in an exhibition named ‘Before the ending of the Day’.

Occupation / profession: Artist

Nationality: English

Gender: Male

Date of birth: 1929

Place of birth: Beckenham

Date of death: 2007

Place of death: Isle of Man

Name Variant: Day, Maurice, Mr.

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