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Adams-Acton, John [1830-1910. UK. Sculptor]
Adams-Acton, John [1830-1910. UK. Sculptor]
John Adams-Acton was born John Adams [1] at Acton Hall in Middlesex, England on 11 December 1830 and was the son of the artist William Adams (1778?–1836). He received his initial training as an artist with the sculptors Timothy Butler and Matthew Noble, before, in 1853, entering the Royal Academy Schools in London where he studied until 1858. In 1855 he was awarded a Gold Medal for his sculpture Eve Supplicating Forgiveness at the Feet of Adam. In 1858 he won the RA travelling scholarship and subsequently went to Rome where lived until 1865 when he returned to England.
Adams-Acton exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London from 1854 to 1892. He also exhibited at Suffolk Street Gallery (later Royal Society of British Artists) in London; and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
His name came to prominence with his memorial to the non-conformist preacher, John Wesley in Westminster Abbey, London (c.1875). Other commissions included a monument to Bishop Waldegrave in Carlisle Cathedral (1869); a memorial to George Cruickshank in St. Paul's Cathedral, London (c.1871); a statue of Titus Salt in Bradford (1874); and a memorial to Cardinal Manning, Westminster Cathedral, London (1908). He was the only non-Catholic sculptor ever to take sittings from Pope Leo XIII.
Adams-Acton is perhaps best known for the many busts of his friend, Prime Minister Gladstone who sat for him over 200 times. He also created busts of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and Benjamin Disraeli. His last public work was installed in Westminster Cathedral to great acclaim. It was by cruel fate that he was hit by a vehicle when leaving the cathedral. He never recovered from his internal injuries and died on the Isle of Aran in Scotland on 28 October 1910.
His address was given as Acton Hill, Middlesex in 1854 and 1858; 35 Vicolo de Greci, Rome in 1859; 116 Via Margretta, Rome in 1860 and 1865; 22 Caves Terrace, Shepard's Bush, London in 1866 and 1868; Margutta House, 103 Marylebone Road, London in 1869 and 1882; ; Sunnyside, Abbey Road, London in 1883 and 1888; and 8 Langford Place, St. John's Wood, London in 1889 and 1910. During the late 1870s he also lived for eight months in India. He died at his wife's home on the Isle of Arran on 28 October 1910.
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[1] He is thought to have added -Acton to his surname in 1869 to to distinguish himself from the painter John Clayton Adams (1840-1906)
Adams-Acton exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London from 1854 to 1892. He also exhibited at Suffolk Street Gallery (later Royal Society of British Artists) in London; and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
His name came to prominence with his memorial to the non-conformist preacher, John Wesley in Westminster Abbey, London (c.1875). Other commissions included a monument to Bishop Waldegrave in Carlisle Cathedral (1869); a memorial to George Cruickshank in St. Paul's Cathedral, London (c.1871); a statue of Titus Salt in Bradford (1874); and a memorial to Cardinal Manning, Westminster Cathedral, London (1908). He was the only non-Catholic sculptor ever to take sittings from Pope Leo XIII.
Adams-Acton is perhaps best known for the many busts of his friend, Prime Minister Gladstone who sat for him over 200 times. He also created busts of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and Benjamin Disraeli. His last public work was installed in Westminster Cathedral to great acclaim. It was by cruel fate that he was hit by a vehicle when leaving the cathedral. He never recovered from his internal injuries and died on the Isle of Aran in Scotland on 28 October 1910.
His address was given as Acton Hill, Middlesex in 1854 and 1858; 35 Vicolo de Greci, Rome in 1859; 116 Via Margretta, Rome in 1860 and 1865; 22 Caves Terrace, Shepard's Bush, London in 1866 and 1868; Margutta House, 103 Marylebone Road, London in 1869 and 1882; ; Sunnyside, Abbey Road, London in 1883 and 1888; and 8 Langford Place, St. John's Wood, London in 1889 and 1910. During the late 1870s he also lived for eight months in India. He died at his wife's home on the Isle of Arran on 28 October 1910.
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[1] He is thought to have added -Acton to his surname in 1869 to to distinguish himself from the painter John Clayton Adams (1840-1906)
Marble bust of a young boy, 1862, by John Acton-Adams
Bibliography
1. Read, Benedict. Victorian Sculpture. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982
1. Read, Benedict. Victorian Sculpture. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982
Weblinks
ART UK
Artist Biographies [Subscription service]
Mapping the Practice & Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851-1951
National Portrait Gallery, london
S. E. Fryer, ‘Acton, John Adams- (1830–1910)’, rev. Anne MacPhee, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [Subscription service]
Wikipedia
ART UK
Artist Biographies [Subscription service]
Mapping the Practice & Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851-1951
National Portrait Gallery, london
S. E. Fryer, ‘Acton, John Adams- (1830–1910)’, rev. Anne MacPhee, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [Subscription service]
Wikipedia