Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann OAM (born 20 February 1941)[1] is an Australian sculptor, best known for his controversial abstract public sculpture Vault (1980), located in Melbourne. He is also known for the sculpture Leviathan Play (1985), located in Brisbane.[2][3][4]

Ron Robertson-Swann
OAM
Born
Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann

(1941-02-20) 20 February 1941 (age 83)
NationalityAustralian
EducationSaint Martin's School of Art, London
Known forSculpture
Notable work
AwardsOrder of Australia Medal (OAM)

Art career

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Vault has been described as being in the Anthony Caro style,[5] 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.[6] He is Head of Sculpture at the National Art School and is the artistic adviser to the popular annual exhibition Sculpture by the Sea.[7] He was a founding member of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council[8] and has won numerous awards including the Comalco Invitational Sculpture Award, the Transfeld Prize and the Alice Prize.[8]

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."[6]

Notable artworks

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References

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  1. ^ "Ron Robertson-Swann". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Mr Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 10 May 2023 – via Australian Government.
  3. ^ Attwood, Alan (19 June 2004). "Peril in the Square: The Sculpture that Challenged a City". The Age. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  4. ^ Webb, Carolyn (3 October 2002). "Melbourne's mellow peril". The Age. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Sculpture Walk". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  6. ^ a b "What the sculpture said". Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  7. ^ "A Brief History – Sculpture by the Sea 1997-2005". Archived from the original on 4 March 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  8. ^ a b "Ron Robertson-Swann, AO". National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition 2003. National Gallery of Australia. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
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Further reading

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  • Wallis, Geoffrey J., Peril in the Square: The sculpture that challenged a city, Indra Publishing, Melbourne, 2004. ISBN 9781920787004