John Wilson (sculptor)

John Albert Wilson
John A. Wilson sculpting Washington Grays Monument (1907)
Born	1877 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Died	December 8, 1954 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Nationality	Canadian
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	Silent Sam, Daniel A. Bean, Washington Grays Monument
Movement	American Renaissance
Awards	Kimball Prize

John Albert Wilson (1877–1954) was a Nova Scotian sculptor who produced public art 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 Confederacy Statue (Silent Sam) in North Carolina and his Washington Grays Monument (the 'Pennsylvania Volunteer') in Philadelphia.

Of the latter work, renowned sculptor and art historian Lorado Taft wrote, "No American sculpture, however, has surpassed the compelling power which John A. Wilson put into his steady, motionless 'Pennsylvania Volunteer'." Wilson created his studio (the "Waban Studio") at Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Pioneering master of modern architecture Walter Gropius stated the studio "is the most beautiful in the world."

He was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia (Potter's Brook), son of John and Annie Cameron Wilson. His grandfather was a stonemason who emigrated from Beauly, Scotland. Wilson attended New Glasgow High School. At the age of fifteen he created a sculpture of a lion out of freestone (1891).

In 1896, at age nineteen, he went to Boston. During the day he attended the Cowles Art School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He studied drawing and painting. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to study under Bela Pratt. He worked in the evenings as an usher in a theatre and he worked on the weekends as a professional boxer at the Boston Athletic Club. While at the Fine Arts school, Wilson displayed his work "The Crawling Panther" (also referenced as the "Stalking Panther") at the Boston Art Club (1905). He received attention from the Boston Globe and Boston Herald newspapers for "The Crawling Panther". The latter wrote that it was a "powerful work by a very young man". He graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1905. He then worked as an assistant to Henry Kitson.