Ron Robertson-Swann

{{Short description|Australian sculptor (born 1941)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2012}} {{Infobox artist | name = Ron Robertson-Swann | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|02|20|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], Australia | death_date = | death_place = | field = [[Sculpture]] | training = [[Saint Martin's School of Art]], London | movement = | works = *''[[Vault (sculpture)|Vault]]'' – [[Melbourne]] (1980) *''[[List of public art in Brisbane#Leviathan_Play|Leviathan Play]]'' – [[Brisbane]] (1985) | patrons = | awards = [[Order of Australia Medal]] (OAM) }}

'''Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann''' (born 20 February 1941)<ref>{{cite web|access-date=10 May 2023|publisher=[[Art Gallery of New South Wales]]|title=Ron Robertson-Swann|url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/robertson-swann-ron/}}</ref> is an Australian sculptor, best known for his controversial abstract public sculpture ''[[Vault (sculpture)|Vault]]'' (1980), located in [[Melbourne]]. He is also known for the sculpture ''[[List of public art in Brisbane|Leviathan Play]]'' (1985), located in [[Brisbane]].<ref name=OAM>{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1132606|title=Mr Ronald Charles Robertson-Swann|publisher=[[Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)|Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet]]|via=[[Australian Government]]|access-date=10 May 2023}}</ref><ref> {{cite news|last=Attwood|first=Alan|title=Peril in the Square: The Sculpture that Challenged a City|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/16/1087244973120.html|accessdate=2013-01-08|newspaper=The Age|date=2004-06-19}}</ref><ref> {{cite news|last=Webb|first=Carolyn|title=Melbourne's mellow peril|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/02/1033538671587.html|accessdate=2013-01-08|newspaper=The Age|date=2002-10-03}}</ref>

== Art career == ''[[Vault (sculpture)|Vault]]'' has been described as being in the [[Anthony Caro]] style,<ref> {{cite web |url= http://www.artcollection.unsw.edu.au/sculpture_walk |accessdate=25 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223143623/http://www.artcollection.unsw.edu.au/sculpture_walk |archivedate=23 February 2007 |title= Sculpture Walk }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="randm"> {{cite web |url=http://www.randm.net.au/BBPages/Vault.htm |accessdate=25 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829075839/http://randm.net.au/BBPages/Vault.htm |archivedate=29 August 2007 |title= What the sculpture said }}</ref> He is Head of Sculpture at the [[National Art School]] and is the artistic adviser to the popular annual exhibition [[Sculpture by the Sea]].<ref> {{cite web |url= http://www.sculpturebythesea.com/html/history.htm |accessdate=25 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304062857/http://www.sculpturebythesea.com/html/history.htm |archivedate=4 March 2007 |title= A Brief History – Sculpture by the Sea 1997-2005 }}</ref> He was a founding member of the Visual Arts Board of the [[Australia Council]]<ref name="nga5"> {{cite web |title= Ron Robertson-Swann, AO |url= http://nationalgallery.gov.au/Exhibition/SculpturePrize03/Default.cfm?MnuID=6&JudgeID=5 |work= National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition 2003 |publisher= National Gallery of Australia |accessdate= 2013-01-09 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://archive.today/20121128193454/http://nationalgallery.gov.au/Exhibition/SculpturePrize03/Default.cfm?MnuID=6&JudgeID=5 |archivedate= 28 November 2012 }}</ref> and has won numerous awards including the Comalco Invitational Sculpture Award, the Transfeld Prize and the Alice Prize.<ref name="nga5" />

Graeme Sturgeon, the pre-eminent Australian sculpture historian and critic, described Robertson-Swann in 1980 as "the most consistent of the Classic [[Formalism (art)|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."<ref name=randm />

== Notable artworks ==

* [[Vault (sculpture)|''Vault'']] – [[Melbourne]] (1980) * [[List of public art in Brisbane#Leviathan Play|''Leviathan Play'']] – [[Brisbane]] (1985)

== Artwork gallery == <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> File:Vault by Ron Robertson-Swann (Four corner view).jpg|''[[Vault (sculpture)|Vault]] – '' [[Melbourne]] (1980) File:Leviathan Play by Ron Robertson-Swann 01.jpg|''[[List of public art in Brisbane|Leviathan Play]] – '' [[Brisbane]] (1985) </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070905214330/http://charlesnodrumgallery.com.au/BiographyRSwannR.htm Charles Nodrum Gallery] * [http://www.accaonline.org.au/Vault Australian Center for Contemporary Art] * [http://www.artcollection.unsw.edu.au/sculpturewalk.html UNSW Art Collection, Sculpture Walk]

==Further reading== *Wallis, Geoffrey J., ''Peril in the Square: The sculpture that challenged a city'', Indra Publishing, Melbourne, 2004. {{ISBN|9781920787004}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson-Swann, Ron}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century Australian sculptors]] [[Category:21st-century Australian sculptors]] [[Category:Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art]] [[Category:Artists from Sydney]]