Michael Rizzello; sculptor & coin designer
Hyfler/Rosner
Michael Rizzello
Portrait sculptor and coin designer
08 October 2004
http://www.bronze-sculptures.co.uk/our_sculpture.shtml
http://hiwaay.net/~hfears/com_2/misc/mr.htm
Michael Rizzello was one of the most distinguished
figurative sculptors of his generation. His subjects
included the world's most famous and eminent: members of the
British royal family, statesmen, businessmen and performing
artists. Practised in most sculptural media and sizes, from
large architectural works and public statuary to the
domestic, human and wildlife subjects, he was also a
prolific designer of plaques and medals and coinage.
He designed for numerous public sites, including the Welsh
National Memorial statue to the former prime minister David
Lloyd George in Cardiff (1955) and the portrait bust of the
conductor Sir Thomas Beecham at the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden (1979), copied for the Royal Festival Hall,
South Bank (1986).
His hundreds of portraits include bronze busts of Lord
Stevens of Ludgate for United Newspapers and of Nelson
Mandela for the African National Congress, both in 1992. He
completed official portraits for the investiture of the
Prince of Wales in 1969 and for its 25th anniversary in
1994, and the official portrait medallion for the Queen's
1994 state visit to Russia.
Rizzello was born in London in 1926 to Italian immigrant
parents, Arthur Rizzello, a tailor, and his wife Maria. This
was a cultured family and Michael was encouraged as an
artist, although his mother and father died quite early in
his career. He also showed strong musical talent, but
rejected the option of becoming an opera singer in favour of
sculpture.
He always had a love of opera and became a regular at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Glyndebourne. Rizzello
was delighted to meet and talk to the singer Placido Domingo
in 1998, when he sculpted his head.
After attending the Oratory Central Boys School in Chelsea,
south-west London, Rizzello served in the Army from 1944
until 1948. He was commissioned in 1945 and served in India
and the Far East. The Royal College of Art, which Rizzello
entered following demobilisation, offered a stimulating
environment under the direction of its new principal, Robin
Darwin. After a period in which it had been dependent on a
group of civil servants for its direction, Darwin
revitalised the under-equipped institution, bringing in new
staff who galvanised the teaching.
Rizzello was fortunate in having as professor of sculpture
Frank Dobson, who had on his staff a fine draughtsman and
animal sculptor, John Skeaping. Dobson was skilled as
carver, modeller, painter and draughtsman. With Jacob
Epstein, Dobson had been called "a keeper of tradition",
bridging classical and modern sculpture.
Although his training at the Royal College introduced
Rizzello to abstraction, it was not a development with which
he was comfortable. He declined abstract commissions and,
although some of his sculptures of animals veer towards
abstraction, they remain at heart representational.
Rizzello graduated in 1950, the year he married Sheila
Maguire. He was awarded both a Drawing Prize and a Major
Travelling Scholarship in sculpture, enabling him to study
in France and Italy. In 1951 he gained the Prix de Rome for
Sculpture, extending his European studies by two years.
As a professional sculptor back in England, Rizzello had
early recognition by his peers. He was made an Associate of
the Royal Society of British Sculptors (RBS) in 1955, and a
Fellow in 1961, the year he won the Sir Otto Beit Medal for
Sculpture, and served an unprecedented term of two five-year
periods as RBS president, from 1976 to 1986. He was also
President of the Society of Portrait Sculptors and a Fellow
of the Chartered Society of Designers.
Life as a freelance sculptor can be economically hazardous,
but Rizzello ensured a steady stream of work by his
versatility, backed up by hard work.
His reputation rests mainly on sculptures moulded and then
cast in bronze, rather than carving. Early on in his career
he carved in stone, but found the cost of the material a
deterrent. (An interesting example of his carved work is the
statue of Sir William Sevenoke at Sevenoaks School in Kent,
a 1950s commission.)
Unlike some taciturn artists, Rizzello enjoyed chatting with
sitters, and the only recreation he listed in Who's Who was
"people". "People were his great joy, pleasure and amusement
in life," says his agent, Sherie Naidoo. "He was a very
sociable man, with a genius for friendship."
Much of Rizzello's work was international, including
coinage, medals and seals for some 100 countries, among them
the United Kingdom £2 coin for the 50th anniversary of the
United Nations. That appeared in 1995, the same year he
designed the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. His two
twice-lifesize bronze statues of K.C. Irving, founder of
Irving Oil, for New Brunswick, Canada, were followed by many
further works for the Irving family. He did three massive
coats of arms for the National Guard of Saudi Arabia.
Rizzello's output continued to be prolific and varied in
recent years, and included notable and large pieces. Among
these were bronze statues in London and Berkshire to mark
the 200th anniversary in 1996 of the birth of the discoverer
of vaccination, Edward Jenner; the twice-lifesize bronze
sculpture Dancer with Ribbon, inspired by the ballerina
Darcey Bussell, for the façade of the Plaza, Oxford Street,
London, 1998; and a bronze of Lord Taylor of Gosforth, the
former Lord Chief Justice, unveiled at the Royal Courts of
Justice in 1999.
A memorial plaque to the Queen Mother was made for St
George's Chapel, Windsor, 2002, with another at St Mary
Magdalene, Sandringham. His plaque to Princess Margaret, at
the Royal Opera House, was unveiled by the Queen in 2003.
David Buckman
Michael Gaspard Rizzello, sculptor and coin designer:
born London 2 April 1926; President, Society of Portrait
Sculptors 1968-73; President, Royal Society of British
Sculptors 1976-86; OBE 1977; married 1950 Sheila Maguire
(died 2002; one daughter); died London 28 September 2004.