Tim Berners-Lee (b. 1955) built his first computer at Oxford University with a soldering iron, a processor and an old television. He began his career in telecommunications before inventing the World Wide Web in 1989, which is widely regarded as the most transformative technological innovation of modern times. In 1994, he joined the Laboratory for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Cast in bronze and painted, the sculpture depicts Berners-Lee two-thirds life-size. The pose for the portrait is taken from a number of photographs Sean Henry took of his sitter walking outside, carrying the indispensable leather rucksack in which he keeps his laptop. Henry was interested in the paradox inherent in the impact of Berners-Lee’s world-changing invention and his self-effacing demeanour. His sculpted figures are usually anonymous, and in this portrait he has retained the idea of his subject as ‘everyman’ through the casual pose and his simply dressed appearance.
National Portrait Gallery, London
Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery; made possible by J.P. Morgan through the Fund for New Commissions, 2014
© National Portrait Gallery, London
