and who was knighted for his services to the arts, will be visiting Bermuda next month.

And art enthusiasts will have a unique opportunity to hear him talk about his work, for Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, acknowledged to be one of the world's greatest -- if not most controversial -- sculptors has agreed to give a lecture.

The Masterworks Foundation is sponsoring the May 13 event which takes place at the National Gallery.

He will be introduced by Miss Marlee Robinson, who describes herself as "at least half-Bermudian'' as her parents have maintained a home here since she was a child. Besides working as a guide at London's Tate Gallery, Miss Robinson is Sir Eduardo's personal assistant.

In a career that has spanned almost 50 years, Paolozzi, who often works in "found'' objects, has been called "the father of Pop Art''. His collages, cut from magazines were regarded by him as "ready-made metaphors'', representing the popular dreams of the masses.

Miss Robinson suggests that his vision as a sculptor may have been formed when, as a child in his father's shop, he would collect and draw the pictures of cars and aeroplanes depicted on cigarette cards and paste any pictorial images that took his fancy into large scrapbooks. At any rate, his creativity was early revealed as he made his own toys from anything that came to hand.

While acquiring an academic foundation at the Edinburgh College of Art and the famed Slade School in London, the young artist realised that he identified with the moderns, especially Picasso and de Chirico. In the Paris of 1947, where surrealism was all the rage, Paolozzi made collages of images from comics and magazines which recalled his childhood pastimes.

Moving from initially abstract works, he then embarked on representational work, one of his most notable works from this period being the bust of architect Sir Richard Rogers for the National Portrait Gallery, of which he is a trustee.

Other major works by Paolozzi, most of which are large-scale, include a double life-size figure inspired by two Englishmen of genius -- William Blake's image of Sir Isaac Newton, which was commissioned for a park in Hong Kong; another head of Newton which adorns the outside of London's Design Museum; a double life-size seated Athena for the London Oratory School and his 12-feet high Newton figure, which is installed in the forecourt of the new British Library.

He also provided the large mosaic decorations for London's Tottenham Court Road underground station.

Miss Robinson says that although Paolozzi's work stands outside that of "establishment art'', he is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts who accepted a knighthood in 1988 and a life-time appointment as the Queen's Sculptor-in-Ordinary for Scotland in 1986.

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi's lecture will take place Thursday, May 13 in the National Gallery. Tickets at $10 will be available in advance from Masterworks at 41 Front Street.

ACT OF CREATION -- Sir Eduardo Paolozzi working on his 1988 bronze portrait bust of architect Richard Rogers, now on display at the National Portrait Gallery, London.