Ronald Moody Timeline

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1900 -

Born Kingston, Jamaica.
Grows up in Knutsford, outside of Kingston, with a view of the Blue Mountains from his bedroom window. Attends Calabar College, a prominent all-boys school, where he is keen on English, Music, Art and Football.



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1921-22 -

Wins a medal from the Jamaica Football Association. Spends time surfing on the Palisadoes, camping and hiking.



1923 -

Moves to Britain to study dentistry, though passionate about art.

1928 -

Visits the British Museum while still studying, and inspired by Egyptian artefacts in particular, decides to try to make sculpture.

1930 -

Qualifies as a dentist and begins working in his brother Harold’s dentistry practice. Meets his future wife Helene Coppel-Cowen.



1934 -

Makes first sculpture in wood.

1935 -

Exhibits his art publicly for the first time in the exhibition, Negro Art, at Adams Gallery, London, which includes Moody’s work alongside other British Modern artists such as Jacob Epstein, who would become a friend, and sculptures from West Africa. Also exhibits with the London Group at Burlington Galleries.

1937 -

First solo exhibition held in Paris at Galerie Billet-Vorms, a mixture of carvings and bronze casts.



1938 -

Moves with Helene to Paris, where they marry, and establishes a studio in the famous artistic district of Montparnasse.

1939 -

Exhibits twelve sculptures in ‘Contemporary Negro Art’ at the Baltimore Museum of Art, including Midonz.



1940 -

Flees Paris on foot with Helene, 2 days before the German invasion. Finally repatriated in 1941 after 15 months as a refugee, having written a series of poems about his experiences.

1943 -

Interviewed by Una Marson, the BBC’s first black female broadcaster.

1946 -

Begins his first series of BBC broadcasts, ‘Calling the West Indies’ on the theme of ‘Discovering Art’.

1947 -

Moves into 78 Radcliffe Square, London, where he would live for the rest of his life. Diagnosed with Tuberculosis which limits his ability to make large-scale sculptures.

1953 -

Enters the world-wide Unknown Political Prisoner competition, run by the Institute of Contemporary Art. Finalists include Reg Butler, Hepworth and Naum Gabo. Moody is not selected.



1956 -

Joins the Society of Portrait Sculptors and exhibits with them, alongside Epstein, creating portraits of family and friends, including political figures, actors, writers and painters in a range of materials including bronze, copper resin, concrete and fibreglass.

1957 -

Begins The Mother, the first member of his ‘Concrete Family’ which he continues to make until 1962.



1959 -

Moves to Fleming Close Studios, where he is neighbours with Elizabeth Frink.

1962 -

Jamaican Independence.

1963 -

Commissioned to create a public sculpture for the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and creates Savacou.



1967 -

Joins the Caribbean Artist Movement, a collective of writers, poets, artists and musicians from the Caribbean based in Britain. They name their magazine Savacou after Moody’s sculpture.

1972 -

Awarded the Gold Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica for his eminence as an international sculptor.

1977 -

Helps organise the British delegation to FESTAC ’77, the Second Festival of Arts and Culture held in Lagos, Nigeria, which involved 17,000 artists from across 57 countries.



1978 -

Moody’s wife Helene dies suddenly of a stroke. Moody never recovers from the shock and his own health deteriorates rapidly.

1981 -

Awarded the Minority Arts Advisory Service (M.A.A.S) Award in 1981, London, for his outstanding contribution to sculpture.

1983 -

Has several works included in Remembrance exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute to celebrate 20 years of Jamaican Independence.

1984 -

Dies in London.