Leo Higgins obituary: Leading sculptor and foundryman

Born: August 28th, 1951

Died: March 19th, 2022

Leo Higgins, award-winning Irish sculptor and director/co-owner of a Dublin bronze foundry where works of many of Ireland’s best known sculptors were cast, has died.

A self-taught sculptor, Higgins is probably best known for Scales of Justice, a modernist bronze relief piece inspired by the 18th Century Lady Justice statue in Dublin Castle and erected on the new Criminal Courts building in Dublin in 2009.

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Another striking public sculpture by Higgins is Home (1999), an eight-foot flame of gilded bronze framed in a limestone structure which stands in Buckingham Street as a memorial to young people who died from drug overdoses in Dublin’s inner city. Funded by the Arts Council and Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council), it was selected from five proposed pieces by grieving relatives devastated by the scourge of heroin on their community. Higgins worked closely with the families of those who died and when the flame was being cast, relatives were invited to throw mementos into the molten bronze.

Higgins enjoyed collaborating with local communities on public commissions, and when Fergal Quinn commissioned him to make a piece for the front of his supermarket in Finglas, Higgins cast the hands of local people for The Spirit of Finglas (1991), a soaring swarm of 200 bronze hands.

With his longtime associate, sculptor, Colm Brennan, Higgins created a delicate tree made from bronze and wood which was installed in The Peace Garden in Christchurch Place, Dublin, in 1988. That same year, he collaborated with architect Shane O’Toole and others on The Pillar Project for O’Connell Street, which won the grand prix at the Third International Biennale of Architecture at Krakow in 1989, yet was never realised.

Higgins grew up in Finglas, the eldest of five children of Carmel and Edward Higgins. His father worked for McConnells Advertising and his mother worked in her family’s grocery shop, Fitzpatricks on Queen Street, Dublin, where Leo also worked as a schoolboy. His secondary school education was at Coláiste Íde, Finglas, after which he attended night courses at the National College of Art and Design while serving his apprenticeship in Miller’s Foundry in Church Street, Dublin.

He met his wife to be at a gig at which he was playing drums in a band

Higgins began exhibiting his bronze sculptures in 1975, showing Wing Figure at the Oireachtas exhibition. In a joint exhibition with graphic artist Patrick McKenna at the Grapevine Arts Centre, Dublin, he was signalled by reviewers as “one to watch”. He met his wife to be, Ann (nee Higgins), at a gig at which he was playing drums in a band. The couple married in 1972. They lived first in Mountjoy Square, later in the North Strand and moved to Kilbarrack when their three children had grown up and left home.

Higgins went on to participate in group shows in commercial galleries including the Lincoln Gallery in Dublin and the Bell Gallery in Belfast. He won the sculpture prize at the Oireachtas exhibition in 1984 and again in 1985. He also regularly showed work in the annual exhibition, Sculpture in Context, and his work is held in public collections such as at AIB, the Ulster Museum, Aer Rianta, Irish Life and Dublin City Libraries. Latterly, he was represented by Gormleys Fine Art Gallery and the Solomon Gallery.

Collaborator and mentor

An excellent collaborator and mentor of many, Higgins was a founder member of the Sculptors’ Society of Ireland (now Visual Artists Ireland) in 1980. He organised the three-day International Conference on Public Sculpture in Dublin in 1988 and served on the selection committee to choose 10 sculptures for Dublin in its millennium year.

In parallel to his work as a sculptor, Higgins ran the Crucible Art Services and Technology (CAST) foundry, which he established in the Liberties in 1986 with sculptor Colm Brennan. CAST was set up as a rival to the Dublin Art Foundry where Higgins had worked for the previous 15 years.

Having trained at the Dublin Art Foundry, Miller’s Foundry and earlier at a foundry in London (where he cast the work of the eminent British sculptors Elizabeth Frink and Eduardo Paolozzi), Higgins was a highly skilled foundry worker who took great pride in his work.

He shared his knowledge willingly, not least with students of sculpture at the National College of Art and Design where he tutored for many years.

Although his technical expertise in making moulds and casting was excellent, he worked mainly at the furnace, pouring hot molten bronze in moulds, which were left to set overnight. In 1993, CAST was the recipient of the IDA/Wang Company of the Month. CAST foundry was also commissioned to make many trophies and awards, including the Dublin Theatre Festival awards and the National Media Awards and the Institute of Chartered Accountants Awards.

Higgins worked long days in the foundry, eking out time to make his own sculptures while casting pieces for artists including Dorothy Cross, Kathy Prendergast, John Coll, John Behan, James McKenna and Edward Delaney.

Higgins was intimately involved in all stages of these projects, including the final installation of sculptures in Ireland, throughout Europe, the United States and China.

Gold medal

In 2011, the Solomon Gallery paid tribute to 25 years collaboration with CAST by exhibiting works by more than 50 sculptors that had been made at the foundry. Also in 2011, From the Crucible, an exhibition of work by Higgins and Brennan was held in the Irish Arts Center in New York. In 2016, Higgins received a gold medal from the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) for his service to the industry.

Higgins also had a workshop at the side of his home in Kilbarrack. And when his health declined, he continued to make his small bronze sculptures at that workshop

Irish sculptor John Behan RHA, who was a friend of Higgins for more than 50 years, said Higgins was totally committed to “his art and his craft, to sculptors and colleagues at the foundry”. “He was a very good sculptor in his own right, which was often overlooked because of all his work in the foundry. He helped everyone he possibly could and he talked to everyone. Nobody was without his friendship and sympathy.”

His son, Tim now works full time in CAST foundry.

Although dedicated to his beloved foundry, Higgins also had a workshop at the side of his home in Kilbarrack. And when his health declined in the last few years of his life, he continued to make his small bronze sculptures at that workshop. His most recent work was inspired by the migrating Brent Geese who congregate on the seafront near his home.

Leo Higgins is survived by his wife Ann; daughters Lisa and Evie; son Tim; grandchildren Dylan, Ella, Kate, Will, Eve and Leo; brother Kieran (Ken); and sisters, Rita, Carmel and Mary.