Ivor Roberts-Jones RA (1913-1996), A monumental bronze bust of Sir Winston Churchill

Ivor Roberts-Jones RA (1913-1996) A monumental bronze bust of Sir Winston Churchill, after the iconic statue in Parliament Square Edition 6 of 6 95cm high by 127cm wide by 92cm deep On view at: The Sculpture Park After its unveiling in 1973, the full length statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was described as a ?much needed breakthrough in post-war portraiture?. Roberts-Jones? portrayal of Britain?s most iconic wartime leader is revolutionary in its directness and honesty. Roberts-Jones for example portrays Churchill not in army uniform, but wrapped in a coat known as a ?British Warm?, characteristic of the First World War. The leader appears stern-faced and defiant - his serious, weary portrayal by Roberts-Jones is said to have been inspired by a photograph of a sorrowful Churchill inspecting the remnants of the Chamber of the House of Commons in 1941, after it had been destroyed by enemy bombs. Inspired by sculptors such as Auguste Rodin, Roberts-Jones was not afraid to acknowledge his sitters? imperfections. Though ultimately a great admirer of Churchill, describing him as a ?titan? and an ?inspiration to the British people in time of crisis?, the sculptor also used less flattering descriptions of his sitter, including that he resembled a ?boiled sweet? (1). Roberts-Jones himself however noted even during his lifetime that ?the best portraits often contain a mixture of love and malice? (2). The son of a Welsh father and an English mother, Roberts-Jones was born in Oswestry. He initially trained as a painter at Goldsmith?s College, but decided that his true passion was to work with clay, plaster and bronze. He then moved on to study sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools. His commission to create a monument to Augustus John during the 1960s proved a decisive moment in his career, and the Churchill statue was one of several public portraiture commissions that followed, including a portrait of Field Marshall Viscount slim of Burma, which stands at Whitehall, and one of Lord Chandos for the National Theatre.In the decades since it has graced Parliament Square, Roberts-Jones? statue of Winston Churchill has achieved worldwide renown. Described by The Times as one of the grandest works of public sculpture in Britain, the nine foot tall bronze has appeared in political broadcasts for the Conservative Party (thanks to Margaret Thatcher?s admiration for Churchill), Simon Schama?s award-winning History of Modern Britain and in Danny Boyle?s Isle of Wonder film, shown during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.The iconic status of the Churchill statue quickly manifested itself after its completion. To such an extent, in fact, that Roberts-Jones was commissioned to create three further Churchills for the cities of Oslo, New Orleans and, finally, Prague, in 1995. The Czech government initially commissioned a replica of the Parliament Square monument. The plaster from which the original was cast was by the sculptor?s admission in such poor condition, that this was ?out of the question?. Roberts-Jones had begun modelling a new statue, and had created a maquette of the head and shoulders of the wartime leader, but sadly died before he was able to finish this commission. Following further negotiation, his widow, Monica Roberts-Jones, backed by Czech president Vaclav Havel, the British Foreign Office and Margaret Thatcher herself, authorised a cast to be made from the Parliament Square statue for the Eastern European city. Nigel Boonham FRBS, then an upcoming portrait sculptor but later President of the Society of Portrait Sculptors, was assigned the job of overseeing the creation of the cast. It is from the plaster of the head and shoulders made at this time that the present lot was cast. The casting of this limited edition of 6 on behalf of the Trustees of the Ivor Roberts-Jones Estate is also supervised by Boonham.This is the last cast of the strictly limited authorised edition of 6, and presents a unique opportunity to acquire an important piece of British history. Jonathan Black in Abstraction and Reality: the Sculpture of Ivor Roberts-Jones, London : PWP, 2013, p. 63 Roberts-Jones quoted in Abstraction and Reality, p. 63