Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann
OAM (born 1941,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
), is an Australian sculptor, best known for his controversial abstract public sculpture ''
Vault'' (1980) located in
Melbourne, he also known for his sculpture ''
Leviathan Play'' (1985), located in
Brisbane.
[ Medal of the Order of Australia]
(OAM), 26 January 2002, It's an Honour.
Citation: For service to the arts as a sculptor, teacher, mentor and advocate for sculpture, and to art education in Australia.
Art career
''
Vault'' has been described as being in the
Anthony Caro style, which he adopted after studying at
Saint Martin's School of Art, London, in the 1960s. He studied under Lyndon Dadswell and was an assistant to
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
.
[
] He is Head of Sculpture at the
National Art School and is the artistic adviser to the popular annual exhibition
Sculpture by the Sea
The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia's largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. This exhibition was initiated in 1997, at Bondi Beach and it featured sculptures by both Australian and overseas artists. In ...
.
[
] He was a founding member of the Visual Arts Board of the
Australia Council[
] and has won numerous awards including the Comalco Invitational Sculpture Award, the Transfeld Prize and the Alice Prize.
Graeme Sturgeon, the pre-eminent Australian sculpture historian and critic, described Robertson-Swann in 1980 as "the most consistent of the Classic
Formalist, that is, the one most concerned to produce a sculpture which, while obviously of its era, transcends considerations of style in search of a timeless sense of rightness."
Notable Artworks
*
''Vault'' –
Melbourne (1980)
*
''Leviathan Play'' –
Brisbane (1985)
Artwork Gallery
File:Vaultmelbournesculpture.jpg, '' Vault -'' Melbourne (1980)
File:Leviathan Play by Ron Robertson-Swann 01.jpg, '' Leviathan Play -'' Brisbane (1985)
References
External links
Charles Nodrum Gallery
Australian Center for Contemporary Art
Further reading
*Wallis, Geoffrey J., ''Peril in the Square: The sculpture that challenged a city'', Indra Publishing, Melbourne, 2004.
20th-century Australian sculptors
Living people
1941 births
Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art
21st-century Australian sculptors
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