Ivor Roberts-JonesRA (2 November 1913 – 9 December 1996) was an English sculptor of Welsh descent on both his parents' sides. He is best known for his sculpted heads of notable people such asYehudi Menuhin andGeorge Thomas, Viscount Tonypandy.[1]
He was born inOswestry, where one of his works,The Borderland Farmer, stands in the town centre. He studied atOswestry School andWorksop College before attendingGoldsmiths College, London and theRoyal Academy of Arts.
During theSecond World War he served in theBurma Campaign. From 1964 he taught sculpture atGoldsmiths, University of London.
He received his first full-scale commission in 1964 for the memorial sculpture of theBohemian British painterAugustus John (1878–1961). This sculpture took three years to complete and required major alteration (from a double sculpture of John and his wife Dorelia) due to limitation of funds. Nonetheless, the final 1967 single-figure sculpture was dramatically successful and led to Roberts-Jones's election as an Associate of the Royal Academy. This sculpture was erected inFordingbridge,Hampshire, near John's last home.
In 1971 he was commissioned to produce thefull-length statue ofWinston Churchill which now stands inParliament Square, London.[2] The artistKyffin Williams, a friend of Roberts-Jones, is said to have acted as the model for Churchill.[3] The organiser of the appeal to raise money for the statue did not like its initial appearance, and reported: "At the moment the head is undoubtedly like Churchill, but perhaps not quite right of him at the pinnacle of his career. The cheeks, the eyes, the forehead and the top of the head require improvement. I told Mr Roberts-Jones that above the eyes I thought I was looking atMussolini." The sculptor promised to "remove the dome of the head to bring about a lowering of the forehead".[4]
Roberts-Jones's 1984 sculptureThe Two Kings atHarlech Castle illustrates a scene fromWelsh mythology, in whichBendigeidfran carries the body of his nephewGwern.
In 1988, Roberts-Jones was commissioned to produce a statue of the poetRupert Brooke at Regent Place, a small triangular open space, in Brooke's birth town ofRugby. The statue was unveiled byMary Archer.[5][6]
.jpg)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
 | This article about a British sculptor is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
