Eduardo Paolozzi was a Scottish sculptor and artist, considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. He was born in Leith, Edinburgh, to Italian parents, and grew up during the Great Depression. Despite financial difficulties, he was able to attend Edinburgh College of Art in 1943, where he studied painting and drawing. Paolozzi became associated with the Independent Group, a collective of artists and thinkers who came together in the early 1950s to explore the intersection of art, technology, and popular culture. He is perhaps best known for his sculptures, which often incorporated industrial materials such as aluminum, steel, and plastic. One of his most famous works is the bronze sculpture "Newton" (1995), which depicts the scientist as a distorted, fragmented figure. In addition to his work as a sculptor, Paolozzi was also a prolific printmaker, producing a large body of work in various mediums including screenprinting, lithography, and collagraph. He was awarded a CBE in 1968 and was made a Royal Academician in 1979. His work is held in numerous public collections around the world, including the Tate Gallery in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Paolozzi died in 2005 at the age of 81.