Arthur Dooley

Who was Arthur Dooley?

Arthur Dooley was a British artist and sculptor. He was born Arthur John Patrick Dooley in the city of Liverpool, Dooley commenced employment as a welder at Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, he also worked at the Dunlop factory in Speke, before his ambition took him to work as a cleaner at Saint Martin's School of Art in London. He became a student there in 1953. Dooley had his first exhibition at the Gallery of the same name in 1962.

His medium was usually scrap metal or bronze. He sculpted mainly religious works including the Risen Christ in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Redemption in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral The Resurrection of Christ at Princes Park Methodist Church in Toxteth and a Madonna and Child at St Faith's Church in Crosby. He also produced a tribute to The Beatles in Mathew Street, Liverpool, depicting The Madonna and The Beatles with the tribute "Four lads who shook the world". His studio in Liverpool was notoriously untidy, and is reportedly untouched since his death.

Other notable works are the fifteen Stations of the Cross in St Mary's RC Church, Leyland, and a sculpture entitled 'Splitting the Atom' at Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire.