DOI issue:
No. 62 (April, 1902)
DOI article:Sparrow, Walter Shaw: A young english sculptor: Gilbert Bayes
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22773#0123
Gilbert Bayes
derelict”
BY GILBERT BAYES
°nsiderably fewer than in painting. In some
j^easure, no doubt, this may be attributed partly
^e tyranny of the portrait bust, which is apt
° beget a sycophancy of style, a want of independ-
nce and of truth in the realisation of character;
j. a Partly to the large sums of money which ought
0 be invested in the practice of sculpture, but
o Cb many strugglers cannot procure, so that
e,r art grows weak for want of the necessary
all eria^S t0 work upon. Still, when every just
\ve "ance has been made for the harm thus done,
Sc^are still left face to face, in all branches of
Pture, with a dearth of pioneering talent. In
^glarid, for example, many students of the schools
Promisingly to a certain level of workmanlike
t^emess, then falter, lose grip, and fail. Their
(lettl6rS’ anx*ous to test their knowledge, give them
j Us say) a frankly pictorial subject to be made
ec°rative ir
°Pened
in a low-relief panel; the pitfall thus
- at their feet invites caution, yet most of
,em fall into it one by one, exaggerating all the
P'ctorial incidents, and turning out a realistic
picture modelled in clay, as if that could do
duty for a decorative panel in bas-relief.
This proof of incompetence was recently seen
in the prize-work done by the best students of
sculpture in the schools of the Royal Academy;
and it would be easy to instance other things not
a whit less unfavourable to the prospects of the
revival of sculpture. Yet, in England, happily, a
few sculptors of the youngest school have talents
of the right sort, and deserve far more attention
than they receive ; they have crossed the rubicon
of their careers, and, like good soldiers, are glad
to march on. Such, for instance, is Mr. Gilbert
Bayes ; such, too, are Mr. A. G. Walker and
Mr. Derwent Wood.
Gilbert Bayes was born in London twenty-nine
years ago. Before he took up art seriously he
worked for five years at the Finsbury College
of the City Guilds, where, in the evening, he
modelled from the life, and where he received
much sympathetic encouragement from Mr. Wright
and from Mr. Brophy. After winning a County
103
derelict”
BY GILBERT BAYES
°nsiderably fewer than in painting. In some
j^easure, no doubt, this may be attributed partly
^e tyranny of the portrait bust, which is apt
° beget a sycophancy of style, a want of independ-
nce and of truth in the realisation of character;
j. a Partly to the large sums of money which ought
0 be invested in the practice of sculpture, but
o Cb many strugglers cannot procure, so that
e,r art grows weak for want of the necessary
all eria^S t0 work upon. Still, when every just
\ve "ance has been made for the harm thus done,
Sc^are still left face to face, in all branches of
Pture, with a dearth of pioneering talent. In
^glarid, for example, many students of the schools
Promisingly to a certain level of workmanlike
t^emess, then falter, lose grip, and fail. Their
(lettl6rS’ anx*ous to test their knowledge, give them
j Us say) a frankly pictorial subject to be made
ec°rative ir
°Pened
in a low-relief panel; the pitfall thus
- at their feet invites caution, yet most of
,em fall into it one by one, exaggerating all the
P'ctorial incidents, and turning out a realistic
picture modelled in clay, as if that could do
duty for a decorative panel in bas-relief.
This proof of incompetence was recently seen
in the prize-work done by the best students of
sculpture in the schools of the Royal Academy;
and it would be easy to instance other things not
a whit less unfavourable to the prospects of the
revival of sculpture. Yet, in England, happily, a
few sculptors of the youngest school have talents
of the right sort, and deserve far more attention
than they receive ; they have crossed the rubicon
of their careers, and, like good soldiers, are glad
to march on. Such, for instance, is Mr. Gilbert
Bayes ; such, too, are Mr. A. G. Walker and
Mr. Derwent Wood.
Gilbert Bayes was born in London twenty-nine
years ago. Before he took up art seriously he
worked for five years at the Finsbury College
of the City Guilds, where, in the evening, he
modelled from the life, and where he received
much sympathetic encouragement from Mr. Wright
and from Mr. Brophy. After winning a County
103