Gilbert Bayes

Gilbert William Bayes was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess pieces, mirrors and cabinets.

Bayes was born in London into a family of artists, his father being Alfred Walter Bayes, an established artist at the time. He was one of four children and brother to both the well-known artist and critic Walter Bayes, and to the Arts & Crafts designer Jessie Bayes. Gilbert Bayes studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School and then at the Royal Academy Schools between 1896 and 1899, where he won a gold medal and a travelling scholarship to Paris. Bayes' lengthy and illustrious career began as a student under Sir George Frampton and Harry Bates, and so became associated with the British New Sculpture movement and its focus on architectural sculpture. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1889, aged 17. In Paris, Bayes won an honourable mention at the 1900 International Exhibition, then several medals at the Paris Salon and, in 1925, a gold medal and diploma of honour at the Exhibition of Decorative Art. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Bayes is perhaps best remembered for his interest in colour, his association with the Royal Doulton Company, and his work in polychrome ceramics and enamelled bronze. His 1939 major polychrome stonework frieze, Pottery through the Ages at the Doulton Headquarters in London was removed in the 1960s when the building was razed, and the 50 foot long work was re-located to the Victoria and Albert Museum. He also designed a number of war memorials, with public works throughout the former British Empire, from New South Wales to Bangalore.

In 1896, Bayes was elected to the Art Workers' Guild, and in 1925 was elected to the position of Master. Bayes served as president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, PRBS, from 1939 through 1944, and of the Ealing Art Group from 1947-1953. He died in London in 1953. Bayes' home at 4 Greville Place in St. John's Wood bears a blue plaque erected by English Heritage in 2007.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023