RSA Scottish Art
Sir James Caw
 | Artist: Benno Schotz |
| Title: Sir James Caw | |
| Year: c. 1928 | |
| Medium: bronze | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA Diploma Collection | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| © the trustees of the late Benno Schotz | |
| Description: Benno Schotz was highly influential in Scotland and had a long and distinguished career producing many sculptures of eminent people. Although he worked on a variety of subjects, Schotz specialised in the bronze portrait bust. Following on from Rodin and alongside Epstein, his bronzes display a vital and tactile quality. This is derived from a bronze casting technique, which calls for the production of a clay model first, in which the finger and thumb prints of the sculptor (as well as marks of the palette knife) remain visible. Although the bust is very lifelike and offers a convincing face for us to acquaint ourselves with, there is a rough, potent texture to the surface of the piece which departs from the real figure and is more concerned with making an interesting sculptural object.The form of this piece, Sir James Caw, like most portrait busts, reveals only the head and shoulders of the figure. There are some deep undercuts on it such as under the moustache and beneath the lapel of the jacket. These undercuts are difficult to produce in the casting process, and must be considered well in advance when the bust is still at the early clay stage. Schotz has also chosen to give the bust hollow eyes, rather than modelling the pupils.Sir James Caw was the Director of the National Galleries of Scotland from 1907 to 1939. What kind of person do you think he was? What kind of character do you imagine him to be? There is a liveliness and vivacity to Schotz's representation of this man. Although he was clearly an important person, Schotz has captured a cheerful, human perspective of the man, rather than trying to convince the viewer of his high status. | |
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