Peter Schipperheyn (b. 1955), Melbourne-based sculptor, is well known for his contemporary marble and bronze sculptures of the human form. In his early twenties Schipperheyn went to Rome and studied painting at the Academia di Belle Arti. After returning to Melbourne, he gained his diploma in Fine Art from the Caulfield Institute of Technology and turned to sculpture. In 1979 he was awarded an Italian government scholarship to train as a marble sculptor in Carrara and exhibited the resulting sculptures at Australian Galleries, Melbourne in 1980. Since then, he has travelled frequently between Australia and Italy to work and source materials. Schipperheyn won the Wynne Prize in 1992 for two oversized marble masks of himself and his partner Cinzia Ruffilli. Major sculptural commissions include Dame Joan Sutherland for the Sydney Town Hall in 1988, Sir Eric Westbrook for the National Gallery of Victoria in 1991 and the Eternal Flame for the Holocaust Museum, Melbourne in 1998. Schipperheyn has also completed many works for cathedrals, churches, hotels and universities as well as private clients.
