- Title:
- Cloud Cliff Bathers
- Object name(s):
- Plaquette
- Brief description:
- A rectangular plaquette, cast bronze, depicting bathers lounging by a body of water at the bottom of a cliff
- Collection:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Associated concept:
- Sculpture
- Associated concept:
- Medallions
- Credit line:
- Given by Ron Dutton
- Current reproduction location:
- https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NV2927/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
- Location type:
- Thumbnail
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 13
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 9
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 1
- Material:
- Bronze
- Object history note:
- Given by Ron Dutton in 2024.
- Object name:
- Plaquette
- Object number:
- A.4-2024
- Object production date:
- 1981
- Date - earliest / single:
- 1981-01-01
- Date - latest:
- 1981-12-31
- Object production person:
- Ron Dutton
- Object production place:
- England
- Physical description:
- A rectangular plaquette, cast bronze, depicting bathers lounging by a body of water at the bottom of a cliff
- Reproduction number:
- 2024NV2927
- Reproduction number:
- 2024NV2928
- Responsible department/section:
- SCP
- Technique:
- Casting
- Technique:
- Bronze
- Text reason:
- Collections online record
- Text:
- Ron Dutton (b. 1935) is widely regarded as a pioneer of the art medal form. He is a contemporary sculptor and medallist from Nantwich, Cheshire. After years of working mainly in sculpture, Dutton began producing medallic art in 1974. Of the medal, he states, ‘I see the medal as a small sculpture that offers creative opportunities beyond its traditional use, the two sides offering the opportunity to explore themes and ideas and the qualities of shape, colour, rhythm’ (Marcy Leavitt Bourne, ‘From Landscape to Lunarscape’). Dutton was instrumental in founding the British Art Medal Society (BAMS) in 1982. He has since served the society as both Secretary and President. He is currently listed as Vice President on the BAMS website. Dutton was also the British delegate for the Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d'Art (FIDEM), the foremost international medal foundation. He has been a key figure in revolutionizing the contemporary practice of medallic art. Common themes in Dutton’s work include nature, landscapes, birds, flight, space travel, architecture, fantasy, memory, and poetry. He often refers to his own surroundings, specifically the British landscape, when considering new subject matter to explore. Dutton’s medals are unique in their exploration of nature and landscape, a subject ‘which has seldom been tackled by medallists, perhaps because it is so difficult to render light and atmosphere in bronze.’ Yet, his manipulation of the bronze’s patina and careful means of contrasting textures allows for ‘a sensation of space and place extraordinary in so small a work’ (Mark Jones, The Art of the Medal). Throughout his career, Dutton has regularly returned to the theme of mankind’s relationship with nature. In Cloud Cliff Bathers (1981), he depicts four small figures lounging next to a body of water at the base of a large and dominating cliff. Above the cliff, Dutton details the sky with wispy clouds, suggesting a sense of movement. In this plaquette, Dutton’s use of scale emphasizes the power and energy of the natural world. The small figures are dwarfed by the cliff, as nature comes to take centre stage. In writing about his work, Virginia Hewitt explains, ‘Dutton is looking at man’s place in nature, how we co-exist with the world that is our home.’ In Cloud Cliff Bathers, figures are seen lounging and enjoying the abundance that nature has to offer .
- Text reason:
- Summary description
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Marcy Leavitt Bourne, ‘From Landscape to Lunarscape: Ron Dutton at the Royal Coin Cabinet, Stockholm’, The Medal, no. 46 (2005): 80.
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Mark Jones, The Art of the Medal (London: British Museum Press, 1979).
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Virginia Hewitt, ‘Circles in Bronze: Symbols of Life’, The Medal, no. 22 (1993): 86.
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/d3d6407b-fb8b-3515-8862-78c5faaea91b
Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/d3d6407b-fb8b-3515-8862-78c5faaea91b, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC
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