George Blackall Simonds was born George Simonds in Reading, Berkshire, England on 6 October 1843. [He added Blackall to his name in 1905]. From the age of fifteen he studied under under the sculptor Johannes Schilling (1828-1910) in Dresden and then under the sculptor Louis Jehotte (1803-1884) in Brussels. From 1864 to 1875 he lived and worked in Rome. In 1875 he returned to England and established a studio at 152 Buckingham Palace Road, moving on to Priory Studios, 21 North Bank in St John’s Wood in 1888. Simonds exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists,, Dudley Gallery Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, and New Gallery in London; Aberdeen Artists' Society; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; and at Manchester Academy of Fine Arts.
Probably his best-known works are The Falconer (1873) in Central Park, New York City and the Maiwand Lion (1886) in the Forbury Gardens, Reading. In 1922, Simonds came out of his retirement to design and supervise the building of the World War One memorial in Bradfield, Berkshire where he lived.
He was a founder member of the Art Workers' Guild in 1884, acting as its inaugural Master in 1884-85. He was also a member of Royal Society of British Sculptors (RBS) in 1905 and an Associate of Royal Society of British Sculptors (ARBS) in 1923.
His address was given as 6 Vicolo di San Nicolo da Tolentius, Rome in 1866 and 1873; 8 Kensington Square, London and 56 Bedford, Gardens Camden Hill, London in 1875; 40 Piazza Barberini, Rome in 1875 and 1876; 152 Buckingham Palace Road, London in 1877 and 1885; The Priory, 21 North Bank, London in 1895 and 1911; 65 Hamilton Terrace St. John's Wood, London in 1900 and 1903; Bradfield House, Bradfield, Berkshire in 1911 and 1915; and Holly Copse, Goring Heath, near Reading, Berkshire in 1915 and 1929. He died in Bradfield, Berkshire on 16 December 1929.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/
