A LONGTIME FRIEND said Robert Ash was "Philadelphia proud."
It was true that while this highly praised sculptor spent most of his time in Santa Fe, N.M., his thoughts remained in his native city.
As a result, his family intends to place one of his more spectacular works in Philadelphia. The piece is called "Finding Grace," a bronze nude created in Robert's highly original style to express the uniqueness of the human experience. A site has yet to be chosen.
Robert's works, a critic once said, "explored the complexity of the human spirit."
Robert Ash, who grew up and was educated in the Philadelphia area, created highly imaginative sculptures of the human form in its many varieties and contortions that were widely exhibited and cherished by private collectors. He died Oct. 11 after a brief illness. He was 51 and lived in Santa Fe.
A friend, artist Michael Bergt, said, "To be able to find one's unique voice and then spend a lifetime being true to that voice, is both the most difficult and extraordinary journey anyone can take. Robert did that."
Juan Kelly, owner of the Nuart Gallery in Santa Fe, which exhibited Robert's work, said, "Robert Ash has been one of the most uncompromising, passionate and talented artists I have known - pure to his visions and ideas, and always seeking excellence in his work and in the work of others.
"He was gentle and genuinely caring for the well-being of others. I will miss the discussions we had about the arts, especially the honesty and purity of ideas."
Robert was born in Philadelphia to William Ash and Kathleen Belmont. He grew up in Bala Cynwyd and attended St. Matthias Parochial School and Archbishop Carroll High School in Wayne.
He went on to Drexel University, after which he moved to Santa Fe in the late '80s.
Robert was largely self-taught and worked his magic at the Shindoni Foundry and Galleries in Tesuque, N.M., north of Santa Fe. The name of the foundry is a greeting in Navajo.
There, Robert developed and perfected his work in bronze.
Since 1991, he participated in group shows and was represented by Nuart and InArt Galleries in Santa Fe and the E.S. Lawrence Gallery in Aspen, Colo.
His family said he recently completed 10 new sculptures.
On his Facebook page - AshSculpture - a fan from Overbrook wrote: "I like your work. Wish you would come back our way and sculpt a masterpiece."
When "Finding Grace" arrives in Philadelphia, his local fans can relish his creativity.
He is survived by a brother, William Ash.
Services: Memorial Mass 10 a.m. Monday at St. Colman's Church, 11 Simpson Road, Ardmore.