Tom Wood (born 1955) is one of the living artists in the UK who is most celebrated. He was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika. He moved to West Yorkshire in 1959. He graduated from Sheffield School of Art in 1978 and has since exhibited his artwork all over the world. In 1979, he gained a Yorkshire Arts Association Award. Just recently his celebrated portraits of Alan Bennett and Professor Lord Robert Winston were on display at the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. Both the portraits were commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Some of his commissions include the portraits for Warwick University, the National Trust, and for the Harewood Trust. He has participated in solo exhibitions at Schloss Cappenberg, Kreiss Unna, Germany and the Yale Centre for British Art. Wood’s work is both abstract and figurative. He said that recurring images are important to him. His work is held by The National Portrait Gallery Print Collection, HRH The Prince of Wales, London Underground, Leeds University, and many provincial galleries. Wood has taken part in solo, two-man and group shows, which included shows at Lister Gallery, Bradford 1986, Dean Clough Contemporary Art Gallery, Halifax, HRH The Prince of Wales, Dean Clough, Agnew 1989, and at Wakefield Art Gallery 1990. Wood’s pieces of artwork are much sought after and are highly priced by many private and corporate collectors. Today, his artwork can be found in many public as well as private institutions all over the world.
