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SOM#116, Robert Cronbach, Sunrise and Moonrise, 1987
[b]From the collection of John Birks[/b]

[i]Numbers Issued:  750 Bronze[/i]

[b]FROM THE ARTIST[/b]

The use of the seal, the medal, the coin and the sculptured inscribed plaque is almost as old as recorded human history.  The great range of styles, techniques and symbols in this field has always interested me.

My medal is called "Sunrise and Moonrise", or waking and sleeping.  Both sides use a recumbent woman; but rely on the internal action and the auxiliary symbols to convey the contrasting moods of the two faces of the medal.

The source of this sculpture is my love for, and frequent use of, the female human image as a symbol, a means and an aesthetic tool.  I am much more interested in intensity of vision and freshness of form, rather than in novelty for its own sake.

[b]The Sculpture of ROBERT M. CRONBACH by JOSEPH VEACH NOBLE, Executive Director of The Society of Medalists[/b]

As a young man, Robert Cronbach decided to be a sculptor and set out to become one.  He attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, and later the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where he won the Cresson Travelling Scholarship for study abroad.  While in Paris he worked as an assistant to Paul Manship which relationship continued when he returned to New York.

He works both in the impressionistic and abstract style, a rare combination in a medalist.  His two heroic size bronze sculptures for the Social Security Building in Washington are both simplified and stylized, while his hammered and welded bronze wall sculpture in the United Nations General Assembly building in New York is completely abstract.

In his medal, "Sunrise and Moonrise," he has used a very free style to convey the fleeting impressions of a beautiful woman asleep and awakening.

His work has been widely exhibited in World's Fairs; New York, 1939; Brussels, 1955; New York, 1964; and San Antonio, 1968; and in many museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

Robert Cronbach has taught at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture since 1959, and he was the Chairman of the Board of Governors from 1975 to 1982.  In 1985 the National Sculpture Society awarded him the Henry Hering Memorial Medal for outstanding collaboration between architect and sculptor in the use of sculpture on the Madison Library of the Library of Congress.

Keywords: SOM birks_nude_female

SOM#116, Robert Cronbach, Sunrise and Moonrise, 1987

From the collection of John Birks

Numbers Issued: 750 Bronze

FROM THE ARTIST

The use of the seal, the medal, the coin and the sculptured inscribed plaque is almost as old as recorded human history. The great range of styles, techniques and symbols in this field has always interested me.

My medal is called "Sunrise and Moonrise", or waking and sleeping. Both sides use a recumbent woman; but rely on the internal action and the auxiliary symbols to convey the contrasting moods of the two faces of the medal.

The source of this sculpture is my love for, and frequent use of, the female human image as a symbol, a means and an aesthetic tool. I am much more interested in intensity of vision and freshness of form, rather than in novelty for its own sake.

The Sculpture of ROBERT M. CRONBACH by JOSEPH VEACH NOBLE, Executive Director of The Society of Medalists

As a young man, Robert Cronbach decided to be a sculptor and set out to become one. He attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, and later the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where he won the Cresson Travelling Scholarship for study abroad. While in Paris he worked as an assistant to Paul Manship which relationship continued when he returned to New York.

He works both in the impressionistic and abstract style, a rare combination in a medalist. His two heroic size bronze sculptures for the Social Security Building in Washington are both simplified and stylized, while his hammered and welded bronze wall sculpture in the United Nations General Assembly building in New York is completely abstract.

In his medal, "Sunrise and Moonrise," he has used a very free style to convey the fleeting impressions of a beautiful woman asleep and awakening.

His work has been widely exhibited in World's Fairs; New York, 1939; Brussels, 1955; New York, 1964; and San Antonio, 1968; and in many museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

Robert Cronbach has taught at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture since 1959, and he was the Chairman of the Board of Governors from 1975 to 1982. In 1985 the National Sculpture Society awarded him the Henry Hering Memorial Medal for outstanding collaboration between architect and sculptor in the use of sculpture on the Madison Library of the Library of Congress.

La_Levrette.jpg Face_of_Jesus.jpg Union Parisienne, 1929-combo.jpg il_570xN.jpg SOM#116~0.jpg Shroud_of_Turin__(JESUS).jpg Rau, Angel-Obv-small.jpg 0962_1.jpg Dumarest_Jeton-BanqueFrance_combo.jpg