John Adams-Acton

The sculptor John Adams-Acton was born John Adams, but in 1869 added the suffix Acton, the site of his birth, to avoid confusion with a well-known painter of the same name. He attended the Royal Academy Schools, and in 1858 won the Royal Academy's travelling studentship. He went to Rome, where he studied under sculptor John Gibson. Through Gibson, many distinguished visitors to Rome had their portraits taken by Adams, and by the time he returned to Britain in 1865 he had established a reputation as a talented portrait sculptor. He exhibited from the 1850s at the Royal Academy, for the next forty years showing a succession of busts, portrait medallions and full statues of eminent Victorians.

Text © National Portrait Gallery, London