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Discover ‘Male Standing Figure - The Priest’ a wood figurine from 1939 by the artist Ronald Moody. This is one of 14,000+ works of art from the Government Art Collection which are displayed in UK Government buildings in over 130 countries; that is nearly every capital city around the world!

Ready to find out more? Ronald Moody (1910–1984) Read online, download or ‘pick and mix’ ‘Male Standing Figure – The Priest’ 1939 any activities that you like. Try them at wood figurine home, at school or with friends. palisandre (rosewood) ©️ Estate of the Artist You don’t have to do them all in one go! Look out for this icon for 10-minute quick 10 and easy activities… 10 facts about... Ronald Moody

* Ronald Moody was described as ‘the most remained hidden in a friend’s studio until * Moody was deeply interested in the important Black artist in of the Moody organised its return to London cultures indigenous to the Caribbean. His interwar decades’ by art writer, in 1949. 1963 commissioned sculpture for the Jean Fisher. * Moody’s career as a sculptor owes a lot to University of the West Indies in Jamaica, * His wood carvings, inspired by the human chance. Turning left instead of right one was inspired by West Indian folklore form, were not realistic. Simplified forms, day in 1928 at the (BM), stories on the origins of the world. they may have held symbolic meaning. he walked into the Egyptian Room. He * After his death, Moody’s niece Cynthia, * Arriving in London from Jamaica in 1923, later described the moment: ‘… a sudden a film-maker and editor, devotedly Moody originally studied dentistry - a revelation came to me and I felt that documented and promoted her uncle’s career he followed alongside being an sculpture was my real medium.’ work, securing his reputation in the art artist until the 1970s. Lacking funds and * The BM was an important space for many world. Cynthia Moody obituary. time for art college, he began sculpting people of African and Asian heritage in * The Moody Crater on Mercury is named in with plasticine, then dental plaster. By London at that time. Its famous Reading Moody’s honour. 1930, he had produced striking works, Rooms were used by Black activists but having to earn a living, grudgingly set including Marcus Garvey and Claude up his dental practice. For three years, McKay. In 1931 Ronald’s brother, Harold, he worked by day in his surgery dashing founded The League of Coloured Peoples home to sculpt at night. in London to combat racial discrimination. * Moody carved ‘Male Standing Figure - * In London after 1941, Moody lacked The Priest’ while living in Paris. A year studio and tools, and suitable wood was after the Second World War began he difficult to find. Friends scavenged a fled just before Paris fell to the Nazis, railway sleeper, an oak beam from a cider travelling through occupied France, press and a slender piece of golden oak across the Pyrénées into Spain, arriving in for him - all were later transformed into England in October 1941. The sculpture sculptures.

02 Say what you see Tree story Sculptures are made by adding, moulding, Imagine the journey of this sculpture. Carved or removing material: from a rosewood tree (perhaps grown in Brazil, India or Madagascar), it was hidden - How was this one made? in Paris, before arriving in London. Since the Rosewood is a very hard, precious wood Collection bought it in 1950 it’s been shown also used for making guitar fretboards, in many different Government buildings. Starter questions marimbas, black chess pieces and furniture. Your turn: write a travel diary from to help explore - What does the choice of rosewood the point of view of the sculpture as suggest about this sculpture? the artwork it moves around the world. Moody made this sculpture in 1939 - What else happened that year?

Think about the title: 10 - Is the Priest a specific person? - Why do you think Moody chose this title? Musical inspiration Does size matter? In 1934, Moody created his first wood - Measure out the space that this sculpture sculpture, called ‘Wohin’ after a song of that occupies (height: 75cm, width: 27cm) name by the famous Austrian composer, - Is it smaller or larger than life? Franz Schubert. - What effect does this have?

How do you think being a dentist Your turn: doodle a tune influenced Moody as a sculptor? - Find any piece of music you enjoy. - Think about materials he used, his - Listen to it carefully as you doodle. anatomical knowledge and daily routine. - Give the doodle the same title as the Remember his chance discovery at the piece of music. British Museum? - Display the drawing with the title. - When has something unexpected

happened to you? 03 ‘Found’ materials Finding figures ‘Found’ materials were important in Moody’s work (see ‘10 Facts’). and faces in the Take a look at his sculptures, ‘Vision’ and everyday ‘Anima’ (right). Think about how the found material (a dark oak beam of a cider press) might have inspired Moody to carve out the sculptures. - Did he ‘see’ figures and faces in the wood grain, or in the shape of the beam? ‘Pareidolia’ is the name given for finding figures and faces (amongst other things) in the everyday world around us. Enjoy these photographs of figures and faces people have found in the everyday world.

Your turn: find faces and figures - Take a walk, looking with fresh eyes at the

everyday world around you - buildings, ‘Vision & Anima’ 1943–44 cars, trees and clouds. ©️ Cynthia Moody, The Artist´s Collection, - Can you discover faces or figures in the Bristol, England shapes and patterns around you? Windows Photo: ©️ VADS (African and Asian Visual Artists Archive) and doors on houses looking like eyes and mouths. Clouds shaped like animals. When you spot something, take a photo. - Show it to someone. Can they spot the same thing? - If you don’t have a camera, walk with a partner, pointing out things you spot together. 04 ‘Savacou’ is a sculpture by Moody inspired In 2014, the UK’s Met Office began naming by West Indian creation mythology - storms alphabetically. This makes them Moody’s mythical stories featuring the moon and sun, stars easier to talk about. Each season, popular and weather types. He created two birds, names are chosen from public suggestions menagerie ‘Savacou’ and ‘Couroumon’, representing and names reflecting the culture and different weather gods or stars. In the diversity of Britain and Ireland. myths, Couroumon controlled tides and caused heavy waves which upset canoes, Your turn: make a storm creature and Savacou controlled thunder and Use the Met Office storm names to collage a strong winds. fantastical storm creature of your own. Here’s part of a letter that Moody wrote - What will it look like? in 1964 to Professor A. L. Cochrane, who - How will it move? had invited him to make ‘Savacou’: - Will it speak or make a noise? ‘On Friday afternoon, August 21st, - Will it have feathers or fur? Wings or legs? Savacou, covered in cellophane, arrived Scales or a beak? for his installation on the sacred lawn of the Commonwealth Institute to the - Give it some powers: what can it do? clicking and mewing of innumerable - Now imagine where to display your cameras. (I am not sure that he approved creature - outside a famous building? of his new-fangled, modern covering!) It In a garden? How big or small will it be, was brilliant and hot and, after he was compared to its surroundings? divested of his ‘alien’ covering, shone in - Cut out your creature, and collage it onto all his glory, arrogant, self-confident and a new setting which can be drawn or spurning his surroundings…’ painted, or a photograph of a place. Tate Gallery Archive TGA ref# 956/2/2/13/78

Sketch of ‘Savacou’ on two legs 1963 ©️ The Estate of Ronald Moody Photo ©️ Tate Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 (Unported) 05 The phoenix, or the goose that lay the Carry on with this idea: weathervanes golden egg, are two examples of Weathervanes, often on roofs or church Mythical birds mythical birds. spires, show the direction of the wind. But why do they often feature birds? The answer Your turn: make a mythical bird is a mixture of meteorology and mythology! Choose a mythical bird, reading the story Weathervanes were important across and discovering the culture it comes from. Europe for weather forecasting, and in the - What elements are the birds 9th century AD the Pope declared that every associated with? Where are they church must have one featuring a cockerel, found? as a reminder of St Peter’s denial of Christ. They became known as ‘weathercocks’. - How can you recognise your bird? Discover more about weathervanes - What are its magical qualities? The artist Maggi Hambling chose to make - Make your bird out of scrap materials her weathervane, the 3-metre high ‘Brixton - pipe cleaners and tissue paper, or Heron’, when she was commissioned plasticine and scrap paper. to celebrate Lambeth Council’s local Developing the idea regeneration project. One-time Brixton This ‘Clangers’ - inspired bird is welded resident herself, Hambling said, ‘…one of from scrap metal. the things I always loved was the diverse community in Brixton. So that’s why I - Can you (carefully!) experiment with immediately thought of a weathervane everyday metal objects such as old because it reflects the many directions from cutlery and wire coat hangers to make which the town’s residents have come.’ a metal bird? You can ask someone to help you construct your bird. Hambling’s print, ‘Heron [Ardea Cinerea]’ - Find out how birds get their names is in the Collection. (this is called ‘taxonomy’) Your turn: make a weathervane - Invent an amazing name for your bird. - Watch this video. It is quite tricky, but give it a go. - Can you add your own mythical bird to the top of it? 06 The bird sculpture here was inspired by an orchid Moody saw in Kew Gardens. An aviary of He was so taken by the shape, he decided flower birds to transform it into the shape of a bird.

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Your turn: make a flower bird - Look closely at flowers growing in a garden, or a park. - Select one flower and draw it as accurately as you can. - Now imagine it as a bird: which flower parts turn into the various parts of your bird? - Will the stalks be legs, and the petals wings? Experiment with different combinations. - Give your flower bird a name. Orchid Bird’ 1968 - If you have time, write a full entry about ©️ Cynthia Moody, The Artist’s Collection, Bristol, England it for an imaginary bird watcher’s guide. Photo: ©️ VADS - The place where birds are kept in (African and Asian Visual Artists Archive) captivity is called an ‘aviary’: if you do this activity with your friends, how about displaying all of your flower birds together in an aviary? You could draw a large aviary on a piece of paper and add

your birds inside. 07 Places to visit (in person or online) The Government Art Collection is These museums/galleries have sculptures the most dispersed collection of by Moody. Always contact them BEFORE visiting to check if artworks are on view! British art in the world. On show - National Portrait Gallery, London in UK Government buildings in - New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, nearly every capital city, the What next? Leicester Collection promotes British art - Graves Gallery, Sheffield and supports British cultural More to explore Other places to visit/online diplomacy, culture - Discover the National Portrait Gallery’s - VADS Online Resource for Visual Art and values. activity about Ronald’s brother, (contains over 100 images of Moody’s work) / One national collection - Discover Black art and artists at Tate - Search for material about Moody at the / Over 14,000 artworks - Discover artists in selected British public Tate Gallery Archive / On show in over 130 countries collections at Black Artists & Modernism. - British Museum - Egyptian sculpture www.artcollection.culture.gov.uk - Ronald Moody: a way of life online Caribbean Beat Magazine, Issue 46, Photographic credits: unless credited, Nov/Dec 2000 all images are ©️ Crown Copyright - Caribbean Artists Movement (1966–1972) - ‘The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain’: an important exhibition from 1989–90 - Jean Fisher’s article, ‘The Other Story and the Past Imperfect’, Tate Papers, no. 12, Autumn 2009