National Sculpture Society will present the Sculpture House Annual Award to Robert “Bob” J. Spring.

In the early 1970’s, Bob Spring took over the Modern Art Foundry from his father, John Spring, not retiring from daily work until 2015. Today, he remains a trusted advisor at the Long Island City family-run foundry.

The extensive list of sculptors Bob worked with includes powerhouse NSS members Donald De Lue, Richard McDermott Miller, Malvina Hoffman and Anna Hyatt Huntington and superstars Isamu Noguchi, Bruce Moore, Ivan Mestrovic and Louise Bourgeois.

For many years Bob worked with Louise Bourgeois, assisting with her exploration of the materials and methods used to develop her body of work, and playing an integral part in the casting of her bronze and aluminum works.  Of all the sculptors he worked closely with over the decades, his work with Louise is likely his greatest contribution to a single artist and their sculptural legacy.

Gregory Glasson, owner of Glasson Sculpture Works, praises Bob for his guidance. He says, “As the art markets and technology expanded Bob mentored other foundry owners like Joel Meisner of Joel Meisner Art Foundry, Dick Polich of Polich Tallix Art Foundry, Istavan Makky of Bedi-Makky Art Foundry and others like me in the casting business. Bob did this with a big heart – sharing his knowledge and experiences without hesitation – generously and enthusiastically.”

The National Sculpture Society will present the grant on Saturday, June 15, 2019 at the Honors and Awards Dinner. The Dinner is part of the Sculpture Celebration Conference held June 14-16, 2019 in New York City.

Sculpture news image: Richard McDermott Miller at Modern Art Foundry