James Walter Butler

James Walter Butler MBE RA (born July 25, 1931 in London ) is a British figure sculptor , stonemason and medalist .

life and work

Memorial to Jomo Kenyatta, Nairobi , 1972

Butler studied from 1948 to 1950 at Maidstone College of Art , now the University for the Creative Arts , from 1950 to 1952 at St. Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London . He made many life-size bronze statues as commissioned works for works of art in public spaces in London, Leicester and other cities, as well as smaller statuettes and portrait busts. The breakthrough is the monumental monument to Jomo Kenyatta in 1972 in the center of Nairobi , since then he has devoted himself to sculpture, using the technique of lost wax casting (or lost forms ) for bronze castings . Previously, he had also taught drawing and sculpture at the City & Guilds of London Art School .

The Royal Academy of Arts noted in its artist profile naturalistic and technical influences of the French sculptors Auguste Rodin , Jules Dalou and Edgar Degas , the British Charles Sargeant Jagger and the Italian Giacomo Manzù .

In 2001 he designed the current version of the Great Seal , a seal of the British royal family .

Butler is married with five daughters and lives in Warwickshire .

Honors

In 1964 he was elected a candidate for ARA and in 1972 a full member as a RA of the Royal Academy of Arts and became a senior RA in 2006. In 1980 he became a member of the Royal West of England Academy and since 1981 a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors .

In 2009 Butler became a Member of the Order of the British Empire .

Works (selection)

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  Thomas Cook statue , Leicester, 1993

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  Skipping girl, Funchal , Madeira

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  Elizabeth II, Runnymede

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  The Jester, Stratford-upon-Avon

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  Alexander of Tunis , Wellington Barracks, Westminster , London

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  James Henry Greathead , London

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  John Wilkes , London

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  The Burton Cooper statue, Burton-upon-Trent

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  The Leicester Seamstress, Leicester

literature

• John Meulkens: James Butler, MBE, RA, RWA, FRBS. An extended personal view of a collector. 2nd, expanded edition. Self-published, Warwick 2009.
• Kristiane Frank: Butler, James W. (1931) . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 15, Saur, Munich a. a. 1996, ISBN 3-598-22755-8 , p. 373.

Web links

Commons : James Walter Butler  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• James Butler website
• Profile James Butler RA of the Royal Academy of Arts
• James Walter Butler on artnet

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Profile of James Butler RA of the Royal Academy of Arts. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
2. ^ Government News Network: Great Seal of the Realm
3. ↑ See personal website
4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 58929, HMSO, London, December 31, 2018, p. 14 ( PDF , accessed September 24, 2019, English).