John A. Wilson (sculptor)

John Albert Wilson
John A. Wilson sculpting Washington Grays Monument (1907)
Born1877
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
DiedDecember 8, 1954 (aged 77)
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Known forSculptor
Notable workSilent Sam, Daniel A. Bean, Washington Grays Monument
MovementAmerican Renaissance
AwardsKimball Prize

John Albert Wilson (1877 – December 8, 1954) was a Canadian sculptor who produced public art for commissions throughout North America. He was a professor in the School of Architecture at Harvard University for 32 years. He is most famous for his American Civil War Monuments: the statue on the Confederate Student Memorial (Silent Sam) on the campus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Washington Grays Monument (Pennsylvania Volunteer) in Philadelphia.

Renowned sculptor and art historian Lorado Taft wrote of the latter work, "No American sculpture, however, has surpassed the compelling power which John A. Wilson put into his steady, motionless 'Pennsylvania Volunteer'."[1] Wilson created his studio (the "Waban Studio") at Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Walter Gropius, known as a pioneering master of modern architecture, said the studio "is the most beautiful in the world."[2]

  1. ^ Lorado Taft. The History of American Sculpture. 1925. p. 570 (first published 1903)
  2. ^ George MacLaren. "Nova Scotia's First Sculpture: John A. Wilson", Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Vol. #3:2 (1973), p. 119