Sculptor. Of Manx origin, he studied at the Finsbury School of Art and the South London Technical School of Art, and then in Paris under Denys Puech and Emmanuel Frémiet, and in Brussels under Charles Van der Stappen. The critic Marion Spielmann says that Taubman was influenced as well by the Belgian sculptor Constantin Meunier, and that his ‘success in the Belgian schools was remarkable’. His address between 1894 and 1897 was given in the Royal Academy catalogues as 123 rue Potagère, Brussels. The work which he showed at the Royal Academy in 1895, Wild Ass and Panther, was modelled, according to Spielmann, at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, under instructions from Frémiet. Taubman returned to England in 1898, exhibiting in that year an Adam and Eve and a Joan of Arc at the Royal Academy. Amongst his works of the 1890s were an Old Charwoman and a Dustman, both life-size, which were of a different order from the general run of ideal subjects, but which no doubt reflected the influence of Meunier. The realist strain seems not to have persisted, judging from the titles of the works which he continued to show up to 1938 at the Royal Academy. These indicate a preference for Greek mythology and history. Taubman executed two virtually identical statues of Sir Sydney Waterlow, for Waterlow Park, London (1900), and for the United Westminster Schools, London (1901). In 1905, he was among the second wave of sculptors invited to join the Society (Royal Society from 1911) of British Sculptors ‘without further nomination’; he remained a member until 1920. From 1935, his address is given in the Royal Academy catalogues as ‘Brook Side’, Kemerton, Tewkesbury. Around 1900, Taubman had a reputation as a graphic artist and caricaturist. He also wrote poetry. A small collection of his work is to be found in the Manx Museum and National Gallery, Douglas, Isle of Man.
Bibliography: Mapping Sculpture; M.H. Spielmann, British Sculpture and Sculptors of To-day, London, 1901, pp. 149, 151; P. Ward-Jackson, Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster. Volume 1, Liverpool, 2011, pp. 178–79.
Philip Ward-Jackson, 2011; revised, Terry Cavanagh, January 2025