George James Frampton [commonly known as George Frampton] was born in Lambeth, London, England on 18 June 1860. He first worked in an architect’s office and then for a firm of architectural stone-carvers, before training at the London Technical Art School under the sculptor William Silver Frith (1850-1924) in 1880-81, and from 1881 to 1887 at the Royal Academy Schools in London where he won a gold medal and a travelling scholarship. While a student he produced decorative and ornamental sculptures for various clients.
From 1887 to 1890 he lived in Paris where he worked in the studio of the Austrian-born British medallist and sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834-1890). He also received lessons in sculpture from Antonin Mercié and painting from P.-A.-J. Dagnan-Bouveret and Gustave Courtois.
Following his return to London he taught for a period at the Slade School of Fine Art. In 1896, he helped establish the Central School of Art in London which was to become one of England's most respected art training establishments.
Frampton exhibited at the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Academy, Royal Society of British artists, and the Royal Institute of Painters in water Colours in London; Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin; the Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water Colours; and at the Paris Salon, where he was awarded a Gold Medal in 1889.
He exhibited with the Symbolists on a number of occasions, notably at the Venice Biennale of 1897, and showed at the first Vienna Secession of 1897. He also participated in exhibitions held by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in London, and the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 where he was awarded the médaille d'honneur for his bas-relief Mysteriarch.
Frampton was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1887; an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1894; a Royal Academician (RA) in 1902; an Honorary member of the Royal Society of British Artists (HRBA) in 1907: and an Honorary member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (HRI) in 1926. He was President of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (PRBS) in 1911-12. In 1908 he received a knighthood. He was Master of the Art Workers Guild in 1902.
Frampton mainly sculpted portrait and figure subjects, frequently elevating his art through a combination of materials, such as bronze, ivory and semi-precious stones. He is best known for his portrait of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, the lions at the North Entrance to the British Museum, and the Edith Cavell Memorial, all in London.
Following World War One he collaborated with the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in the design of two war memorials - in Hove, East Sussex, and Fordham, Cambridgeshire.
Frampton’s address was given as 10 Prospect Terrace, Britannia Road, London in 1871; 98 Warner Road, Camberwell Green, London in 1890 and 1896; 32 Queen's Road, St John's Wood, London in 1894 and 1911; and 90 Carlton Hill, St Johns Wood, London in 1909 and 1928. He died at his home, 91 Carlton Hill, in St. John's Wood, London on 21 May 1928.
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)