John Angel

John Angel (November 1, 1881 – October 16, 1960) was a British-born American sculptor, architectural and ecclesiastical sculptor, medallist and lecturer. He emigrated to the United States where he created architectural sculpture. His work in the United Kingdom and the United States has been critically praised.

Biography Angel was born one of ten children in Newton Abbot, Devon, England, the son of a tailor, Samuel Angel (born , Ashburton, Devon).

He entered a seven-year apprenticeship at the age of 14 years. He received formal training at the Exeter School of Art and later at the Lambeth School of Art. George Frampton became his mentor at the Royal Academy School, and his influence resonated in Angel's work. Angel also studied with Sir Thomas Brock. His professional progression is verified by census data: his occupation in the Census of England and Wales, 1901 was; "Wood Carver – Appren[tice]" and in the 1911 census, "Sculptor". also known as the "Angel of Bridgwater". Signed tympanum at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington D.C. He was especially noted for evocative ecclesiastical sculptures. The commissions and awards were numerous. He also produced sculptures for chapels at Princeton University, St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire) and the Desloge Hospital (Desloge Chapel) in St. Louis, Missouri.

Personal life While he was living in London, he married Elizabeth Day Seymour (1876 Hudson, Ohio – January 6, 1942) on April 25, 1914. They had met in Greece at a time when he "was a promising young sculptor." She was the daughter of Professor Thomas Day Seymour, of Yale University, becoming an American classicist. They had two children and the family went to the United States in 1925, In his autobiography Cram wrote, "John Angel had come to America for a visit, and we had induced him, rather against his will I fancy, to do for us...Out of the blue, so to speak, had fallen upon us the very sculptor we had dreamed of but hardly dared hope for."

British-American biological anthropologist John Lawrence Angel (1915–1986) was Angel-Seymour's son.

Death and legacy When he died in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Two main works were at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and in the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana. The latter includes a rendering of Francis Vigo. Elizabeth Day Seymour's papers are with her family's 51 linear feet on deposit at the Yale University Library.

Honors Hon. LittD, Columbia University (1936) Fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters (1956) Member, Mediaeval Academy of America Member, Architectural League Member, National Sculpture Society of America Member, National Academy of Design. Member, National Sculpture Society, Member, Royal Society of Sculptors (1919)