Ronald Pope was an English sculptor and artist.

Biography

Pope was born in 1920 and after his studies moved to Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

 to work as an engineer. He started at the Rolls Royce

Rolls-Royce Limited

Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....

 factory in Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 (the largest employer at that time in the city). He was at Rolls-Royce throughout the war as a tool maker, where the engines were built for the Spitfire aircraft. Pope learnt and gained experience in techniques such as welding and brazing which he exploited later for artistic reasons. After the end of the war he went to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to study sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art

Slade School of Fine Art

The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...

 with Prof. F. McWilliam

F. E. McWilliam

F.E. McWilliam , was a British surrealist sculptor, born in Banbridge, County Down. He worked in stone, wood and bronze chiefly.-Biography:...

. Pope continued studying ceramics afterward at Woolwich Polytechnic

Woolwich Polytechnic

Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys is a secondary school for boys in the London Borough of Greenwich, London, England, United Kingdom.-The founding of Woolwich Polytechnic:...

 with the ceramist Heber Matthews.

Pope lived and worked as an artist in Melbourne, Derbyshire

Melbourne, Derbyshire

Melbourne is a Georgian market town in South Derbyshire, England. It is about 8 miles south of Derby and 2 miles from the River Trent. In 1837 a then tiny settlement in Australia was named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister, and thus indirectly takes...

, from where he got most of his inspirations.

Artworks

Pope used various materials for his artwork: wood, stone and metal. Some of his metal works (and some in wood, too) look austere, but this is due to their abstract form. Apart from sculptures, Pope also created paintings and drawings. As an artist, Pope received commissions from churches and from local authorities like Hertford, where he created the "'Five Bishops" sculpture on what was then called Castle Hall to celebrate the 13th centenary

Century

A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...

 of the first synod at Hertford.

Other Pope locations include: Derby University, Derby Cathedral

Derby Cathedral

The Cathedral of All Saints , is a cathedral church in the City of Derby, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Derby, and with an area of around is the smallest Anglican cathedral in England.-History:...

, and school commissions he completed for Derby Moor School

Derby Moor Community Sports College

Derby Moor Community Sports College Trust, formerly known as Derby Moor Community Sports College and Derby Moor Community School, is a secondary school and specialist Sports College situated on Moorway Lane, Littleover, Derby....

, Derby School for the Deaf, Curzon Primary and Normanton Junior in Derby, Abingdon High School in Wigston, architects, private companies, and individuals, including the architect Sir Basil Spence

Basil Spence

Sir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style.-Training:Spence was born in Bombay, India, the son of Urwin...

.

In 2008 Derby Museum and Art Gallery

Derby Museum and Art Gallery

Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...

held an exhibition of his works entitled "Ronald Pope - Sculpture from the Museums' Collection".