in memoriam
In Memoriam - Stephen K. Scher (1934-2026)
Dr Stephen K. Scher, long time member of FIDEM, expert collector and scholar in the field of medallic art has passed away.
"Dr. Scher received his B.A. from Yale University in 1956 and a Ph.D. in art history from Yale in 1966. After obtaining his Ph.D., he taught art history at Brown University.
Stephen having curated three exhibitions on medals over the years, including "The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance" (1994), "The Proud Republic: Dutch Medals of the Golden Age" (1997), and "The Pursuit of Immortality: Masterpieces from the Scher Collection of Portrait Medals" (2017).
He assembled the most comprehensive and significant private collection of medals over six decades of collecting, and a selection of medals from his donation to the Frick Collection are displayed there in a recently opened second floor gallery.
Together with his wife Janie, they established The Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher Center for the Study of Commemorative Medals, through which the Frick provides a lecture series and an annual Scher Fellowship to promote research in the field of medals. His generosity of knowledge, cultivated connoisseurship, and congeniality will be greatly missed."
New York Numismatic Club
Photo: George Cuhaj
In Memoriam - Geert Maas (1944-2026)
It is with great sadness that I write this tribute to mark the passing of my friend and mentor, Geert Maas, who died on October 16, 2026, at Kelowna General Hospital. Geert’s health had been declining over the past few years, and he was lovingly cared for by his devoted wife, Elly, until the end. He is survived by Elly, their three children and nine grandchildren.
Born in the Netherlands, Geert attended Peter Karis Teachers Training College and studied at art academies in The Hague and Kijkduin. In 1979, he immigrated to Kelowna, British Columbia, with his wife, Elly. Together, they established the Geert Maas Sculpture Garden and Gallery, where, for 45 years, they proudly welcomed visitors from around the world to experience Geert’s extensive collection of work. They also introduced countless guests to the fascinating process of creating sculpture in bronze.
Geert was deeply committed to his community. His legacy as an educator and community leader lives on in The Spirit of Kelowna, an installation at Kelowna City Hall featuring more than 100 medallions created by residents. Geert was also actively involved with the Sunrise Rotary Club, serving as president, hosting international exchange students and helping facilitate the international youth exchange programme.
Among his best-known public works in Kelowna are On the Beach, at Waterfront Park, and the large bronze apple centennial time capsule outside Orchard Park Mall. His sculptures and other works can be found in public and private collections around the world. Geert and Elly’s remarkable artistic partnership and lifelong dedication to their work are documented on their website, geertmaas.org, which includes a film celebrating their shared journey.
On a personal note, Geert was much more than an accomplished artist and community leader to me. He was a friend and mentor who introduced me to the art of medal-making and encouraged my involvement in this fascinating field. His guidance was instrumental in my becoming the Canadian delegate to FIDEM (the International Federation of Medallic Art), a role I have held for the past 20 years. I will always be grateful for his encouragement, generosity and friendship
Geert leaves behind a remarkable artistic legacy, but perhaps his greatest legacy is the inspiration he gave to others through his art, his teaching and his generosity of spirit. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.
Lynden Beesley, Former FIDEM Delegate
In Memoriam - Ron Dutton (1935-2026)
Ron Dutton was born in 1935 in Nantwich, Cheshire (UK). He studied Fine Arts at King's College, University of Durham in Newcastle upon Tyne from where he graduated in 1960. He taught sculpture at Sunderland College of Art. Between 1964 and 1985, he was the Head of Sculpture at Wolverhampton College of Arts. His career as a medallist started in 1974 although he himself saw them not as medals but rather small bronze reliefs.
In 1979, he participated for the first time at the FIDEM congress in Lisbon. The debate at the time was: "What is a medal?". He said during an interview in 2003 that "I thought the discourse was quite pedantic and my contribution for future FIDEM debates was the medal entitled Pig Poem.
It is round, it sits comfortably in the hand, has an image on the obverse and reverse and an inscription". And indeed Pig Poem follows the definition of a dictionary: small, round, in metal and two-sided. Except that Pig Poem has the extra touch of humour which was so characteristic of Ron.
Since 2012, Ron has been FIDEM's vice-president. In 2016, he received the FIDEM Grand Prix: "four lush, colourful and high-spirited medals, demonstrating the enormous creativity of an experimented artist."
The news of his death feels unreal. I met Ron and saw his medals for the first time during the 2000 year FIDEM congress in Weimar. His Space Imperial medal caught my eye because I was not quite sure of what I had in front of me. My first instinct was to question what it was. I did not understand why it was part of a medal exhibition because to me it was not a 'medal'. Still it made me stop to look at it. Why? It had a strange shape, it had colours and it was funny in the sense that it had humour. I never looked at the title because I wanted to give my mind a chance to see through the object, not to impose an explanation straight away. The medal made me smile because it made me think of Captain Spock's ears. I don't think Ron's intention was to make the viewers think of Star Trek.
I got the feeling it would lift off and wander back in space. I remember that I wanted to touch it and hold it in my hands but it was resting safely behind glass. Somebody approached me and asked if I enjoyed the exhibition and what I thought of the medals in the case. I told him that Space Imperial was intriguing but I wouldn't stretch to saying I liked it. He started quizzing me and at some point I told him that it would be nice to be able to one day speak to the artist. He faced me, a big smile broadened his face, he extended his hand and said: "Ron Dutton, nice to meet you. I am very happy that my medal intrigues you. Then I know it has done its job." At that moment I wanted the earth to swallow me. My first congress and I had managed to insult two artists already. He was approached by other members of the congress and I could escape to the garden of the museum. A lady was sitting on a bench. A lady I had shortly met previously. She looked at me and said: "Oh dear, you look a bit pale what is the matter?" I told her and after a while she smiled, patted my hand and said: "Don't you worry. I am sure you have not insulted him. You have just tickled his creativity. Don't you worry, I will talk to him. He is my husband". Leila was right because from this moment, I had gained a friend.
In 2004, I had the great privilege to work closely with Ron when I prepared an exhibition with his works of art at the Royal Coin Cabinet in Stockholm where I was the curator of the medal collection. 'From Landscape to Lunarscape' featured several of his medals including the ones with an environmental theme. It was a well visited exhibition. The showcase, I was the proudest of having created, and which made Ron go very silent, was the one where Captain Spock's ear was actually flying in space.
In the exhibition catalogue I wrote: "One can compare the medal and his work: they are two sided. On one side his fingers are giving life to the metal with the impression of his fingertips and the modelling of the wax. The other side is the metal and the topic which melt into each other and become one. Together the two sides create a whole. This whole should be touched, stroked and felt by the hands of the viewer. In real life you can touch the landscape in the sense that you can touch the grass, the trees, the flowers, the animals, you get an impression and you leave an impression in the landscape with your footprints. Dutton wants you to get an impression when you look and touch his medals because he has left his impressions on the metal. And many of his medals are touching us in various ways."
Ron was always very generous with his time, a great teacher, someone who made you laugh, he touched a lot of people with his medals and his booming singing voice will be dearly missed.
Marie-Astrid Voisin Pelsdonk
Amanullah Haiderzad (1939-2026)