Big Artists Make Tiny Works for Royal Society of Sculptors

Thomas Dane Gallery London +1 location

Miniature sculptures by 42 artists, including some of the biggest names in contemporary sculpture, will soon be sold to support the restoration of Dora House, the Royal Society of Sculptors’ 19th-century home in South Kensington.

For the 10-gram Challenge, artists including Antony Gormley, Bernar Venet, Richard Deacon, and Grayson Perry were asked to create a sculpture from ten grams of wax, which was later cast in bronze at Milwyn Casting.

The resulting works will be available for purchase at Thomas Dane Gallery in London on 23 and 24 October, and online at the Royal Society’s website thereafter.

Profits will go towards the project Creating a Home for Sculptors, which will see the repair of Dora House’s basement and its conversion into studio and accommodation spaces for visiting artists, as well as the creation of a storage space for Society archives currently kept off-site. The renovations are estimated to cost £1 million.

A studio and home to poet William Blake since 1820, Dora House was later acquired by sculptor Cecil Thomas who moved in with his wife Dora and son Anthony in 1919. Thomas later gifted the premises to the Society, founded in 1905, which previously had no permanent headquarters.

Royal Academy of Arts’ President, Rebeccca Salter, will contribute a sculpture to the campaign. She said, ‘the Royal Society of Sculptors plays an invaluable role in nurturing sculptors and encouraging a wider appreciation of the importance of sculpture.’

Milwyn Casting founder and Royal Society member Alex Davies conceived the 10-gram Challenge during lockdown in 2021 to encourage sculptors to create work on a smaller scale from home while supporting Dora House’s restoration.

The first edition resulted in more than 200 sculptures, with many artists donating their work to the Royal Society. Following renovations of its exteriors, Dora House re-opened in February 2023 with an exhibition of work by sculptor Polly Morgan. —[O]

Main image: Richard Wilson, Toffee (2024). 10-gram Challenge 2024. Courtesy Royal Society of Sculptors.