Ronald Cour

Ronald Cour was born in 1914 in Sketty, Swansea, South Wales; he died there in 1978. He was married to the painter Glenys Cour. Ronald studied art from 1933 to 1939 at Swansea College of Art as well as the Royal College of Art London (under Frank Dobson). He was a lecturer at Swansea College of Art from 1947 to 1978.

Ronald Cour participated in many group shows including the Welsh Group of which he was chairman (1965-78), in the Glynn Viviane Art Gallery and the New Vision Centre. He was president of the Swansea Art Society and a leading light in the establishment of the Swansea Arts Workshop in Gloucester Place. He was the first chairman of the Swansea Branch of Artist and Designers in Wales, a group he initiated. His activity as a sculptor was very wide ranging and included fine portrait busts, woodcarving and, from the late 1960s, experimental abstract work in a variety of media. His portraits exhibit his skill as a modeller, and as a wood carver he executed a number of fine figurative pieces. His later, abstract works made use of steel sheet, rod iron and cast metals.

In 1947 he was first appointed to the sculpture department at the Swansea College of Art where he taught modelling, carving and related subjects. He exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1945 & 1949 as well as in the New Vision Gallery in London.

His peers & school friends at the Bishop Gore School in Swansea ( established in 1682, see Wikipedia) were Dylan Thomas, Daniel Jones the Composer, Fred Janes the painter, Vernon Watkins poet, and the writer John Pritchard , all products of the Swansea of that period.

Awards: 1936 winner of the Gold Medal for Sculpture at the Royal National Eisteddfod.

Commissions: bust of the MP Percy Morris for the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea; 1968 (in collaboration with Vernon Watkins) the Dylan Thomas Memorial Stone in Cwmdonkin Park for which he carved the inscription; works for the Foreign Office e.g.figure for the British Embassy in Brussels; crucifix for Manselton Church; Wallpiece for the Science Block of the University College Swansea & donated by Dr.Macmillan; later he produced the memorial to Vernon Watkins.

Works of Art in Public Places:
University of Wales Swansea, Esso Lecture Theatre: Steel Rod Sculpture.
Bishop Gore Grammar School, Swansea: "Tobias & the Angel", wood sculpture.
The Guild Hall, Swansea: Bronze Head of Percy Morris; Welsh Arts Council.