WINGS OF THE WIND
Gilbert Bayes (British, 1872-1953)
Height 6.5" (16cm)
Gilbert Bayes (English 1872-1953) was the son of the painter and etcher Alfred Walter Bayes and brother of the painter Walter John Bayes. He was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy Schools where he was sponsored by George Frampton, sculptor of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.
In 1899 he won a gold medal and a travelling scholarship, which enabled him to study in France and Italy. Like Alfred Gilbert and Frampton, Bayes was interested in sculpture as applied decoration, and was experimental in the use of colour and mixed materials. He exhibited in England and abroad, and at the Royal Academy from 1905 - 1952. Bayes was president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors 1939-1944.
Bayes specialised in reliefs and statuettes modelled on the antique or derived from folklore and biblical subjects. Some of his better known works include the Great Clock at Selfridge's in Oxford Street, London; the bronze relief of Assurnazipal, King of Assyria in Sydney, Australia; the Offerings of Peace and Offerings of War, a pair of heroic equestrian statues that stand outside the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; The Greek Dancer of 1905, and Athletics, a relief at Lord's Cricket Ground in London (exhibited at the Royal Academy 1934).
Literature
Louise Irvine & Paul Atterbury, Gilbert Bayes, Sculptor 1872-1953, Richard Dennis, Somerset, 1998, p110
M.H Spielmann, British sculptors of to-day, London, p 144-145