Judith Collins is a longstanding authority on sculpture. She studied at Edinburgh University and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, and worked with the Art Council and the Hayward Gallery before becoming a Senior Curator of 20th Century British Art at the Tate Gallery, London. She is the author of a wide range of books, which include The Origins of the Romanesque (Lund Humphries, 1983), Eric Gill: The Sculpture (Herbert Press, 1993) and Andy Goldsworthy: Midsummer Snowballs (Thames & Hudson, 2001), and has written exhibition catalogues on numerous artists including Eduardo Paolozzi, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Collins has also worked extensively in radio broadcasting and lectures throughout Europe and the US.

Chapter 1: A Sculptural Renaissance / Chapter 2: The Body / Chapter 3: Lifecasts / Chapter 4: Fragments / Chapter 5: Hybrids / Chapter 6: Objects / Chapter 7: Architecture & Furniture / Chapter 8: Anthropology / Chapter 9: Materials / Chapter 10: The Ephemeral / Chapter 11: Nature / Chapter 12: Colour, Surface & Light / Chapter 13: Memory & Beliefs / Chapter 14: Clothing / Chapter 15: Monuments / Chapter 16: Display / Chapter 17: Gravity / Chapter 18: Size & Scale / Chapter 19: Accumulations / Artists A-Z / Chronology