Watch List notes:

ITALY: AE medal, ND (1998), 165mm bronze medal by abstract sculptor Robert Cook, high relief depiction of elephant drinking from watering hole // elephant walking to right, appears to be one of 10 made (see accompanying label), Unc, ex Jerry D. Williams Collection. According to "The Old Print Shop", a fine art dealer, Robert Cook (1921-2017) was an American sculptor who moved to Italy after World War II. He passed away in early March 2017. During his lifetime, Cook achieved worldwide fame as an "artist who can capture motion in fluid bronze." Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1921, Cook studied with the classical sculptor George Demetrios. His sculpting career was put on hold, however, when the United States entered World War II, whereupon he took up service in U.S. Army Corps of Engineering as a map and model maker. After the conclusion of the war, Cook moved Paris to study with Marcel Gaumont at L'Academie des Beaux Arts; and later, in 1948, he moved to Rome with a Fulbright Grant for more advanced study. Cook was an innovator in the "lost wax" process of casting, creating sculptures that were larger than had previously been possible. He was a keen student of animal locomotion. However he also drew influences from sporting figures and dancers, and his sketchbooks show this diversity. Cook has countless drawings of skiers, skaters, pole vaulters and tap dancers, just as he has many of elephants, lions, pelicans, flamingos, and towering giraffes locked in combat. Cook has been honored with prizes from the Prix de Rome, the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Tiffany Foundation. He was a member of the National Sculpture Society, the Sculptors Guild and was an honorary trustee of the Sculpture Center. For more information see "Who's Who in America."

Estimate: 125-175 USD