Clark, John Stewart - portrait of John Tweed

Although this is quite a large miniature portrait on ivory at 122mm x 90mm and of a "boring old man" instead of a "pretty young lady", it has proved interesting to research, especially as no information about the sitter came with the miniature, apart from the inscription on the reverse.

It is signed on the front "John Stewart Clark" and on the rear is inscribed "No 2 Miniature - John Tweed Esq - by John Stewart Clark - Studio 50 West St - Gateshead on Tyne".

The miniature is of some importance, as the sitter has been identified as John Tweed (21 Jan 1869-12 Nov 1933) one of the most famous British sculptors of the early 20C, who, despite being born in Glasgow, Scotland, is described as "the English Rodin" by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, see Other Sculptures by Rodin in the V&A - Victoria and Albert Museum The miniature can be compared to a photo of Tweed which dates to around 1905/1910.

The National Portrait Gallery in London has four photographs of Tweed dating to 1921/1922, see Sitter in 4 portraits but no painting of him. Based upon a comparison with the various photographs, it would seem this miniature by Clark dates to around 1915.

To date not a great deal has been found out about the artist John Stewart Clark (1883-1956) but he seems to have been born at Gosforth, near Gateshead.

He appears in the 1891 census for Blaydon as the third of four children of Joseph D Clark (1852-?), an animal painter, and his wife, Mary A Clark (1854-?). Joseph seems to have been an artist who worked in the Gateshead area.

In the 1901 census, John Clark still lived with his parents, but at Whickham, Durham, where Joseph described himself as a landscape painter. John was now 18 and described himself as a photographer's apprentice.

Clark also painted in oils and this portrait of a child with a rabbit (49cm x 39cm) was offered for sale by Lawrences in May 2002.

Information about John Tweed has been easier to locate and there is even a 1936 biography of his life titled "John Tweed, Sculptor, a Memoir" written by his daughter Lendal Tweed (JFM 1898-1968) with the assistance of F Watson.

He was born in Glasgow in 1869, the eldest son of a publisher, John Tweed (1826-1885) and his wife Elizabeth (1836-?).

In June 1893 Tweed went to Paris in the hope of studying with Rodin, but he found the four-year commitment that Rodin demanded of his pupils more than he could undertake.

On returning to London, he became associated with Alfred Stevens and other exponents of the New Sculpture movement.

In JAS 1895 Tweed married and moved into 108 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London with his new wife Edith Caroline Clinton (JFM 1870-?) of Farnham. She was the daughter of William Clinton, a successful Aldershot auctioneer in 1881 employing 14 men, who had many children and in 1881 had five servants. Initially Edith was a daily governess, but later became secretary to the Women's Suffrage Society. They lived in Cheyne Walk for the rest of Tweed's life.

This bronze of "Mother and Child" is in the V&A. It probably dates from the mid 1890s as a plaster study signed by Tweed and dated '94' and is inscribed 'To Edie' as a reference to Edith. As such it is an early example of his work, which later tended to concentrate on monumental bronzes.

While studying in Paris Tweed had met Auguste Rodin and they became close friends, with Rodin always staying with the Tweeds on his trips to London. The letters of John and Edith Tweed to Rodin are in the Musee Rodin and Edith penned most of them.

In 1902 Tweed made this bronze portrait of Rodin, which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see www.vam.ac.uk/.../rodin/other_rodin/index.html

Also in 1902 Tweed organised a banquet in London in Rodin's honour. The event took place when the cast of "Saint John the Baptist" was presented to the South Kensington Museum by a committee of subscribers.

After the presentation, the students of the Slade School of Fine Art unharnessed the horses from Rodin's carriage and pulled the carriage through the streets.

Over the years Tweed maintained his friendship and admiration for Rodin, and championed his work in Britain. He was largely responsible for negotiating the loan of Rodin's sculptures to the V&A in 1914, and shortly afterwards a gift to the museum.

This miniature portrait of Rodin standing by his famous sculpture "The Thinker" is by Frank L Nicolet (1889-?) and shown here, and is part of this collection. Although the miniature is larger than usual, the head of Rodin is the size of a normal miniature.

More about the portrait can be seen at View

On Rodin's death in 1917, it was Tweed who loyally organised a memorial service at St Margaret's, Westminster, for admirers who were not able to travel to Meudon for Rodin's funeral on account of the war.

Tweed's training was completed while working with Hamo Thornycroft on the frieze for the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Much more about Tweed's life can be found at
Mark Quinlan - Remembrance and British War Memorials - extracts ...

A selection of Tweed's work is shown here. It tended towards memorial sculptures and hence as those commemorated fade into history, Tweed's work is being forgotten and now rarely comes on to the market. If he had been like Rodin and concentrated more on artistic pieces, rather than memorials, it seems likely he would be better known today.

His work includes a sculpture of Lady Londonderry owned by the Reading Foundation for Art. Another item is a sculpture of the navigator Captain James Cook which is located in Whitby, with another version being in Victoria, Canada.


Other examples shown here include a bronze of Sir George White (1835-1912) on horseback and famous as the defender of Ladysmith in the Boer War which is in Portland Place, London.

Two World War I memorials are the Rifle Brigade Memorial Grosvenor Place near Victoria Station, London and the Kings Royal Rifle Corps Memorial which stands outside Winchester cathedral.


There is a statue in Newcastle to Joseph Cowan (1829-1900) a local notable.

Additional works by John Tweed, but not shown here include; the Peers War Memorial in The House of Lords, the Monument to Lord Clive in King Charles Street, London - see Clive by John Tweed , a reredos in Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London, and a bust of Chamberlain in Westminster Abbey. Also Van Riebeck for Cape Town and Cecil Rhodes for Bulawayo. Other sculptures included Queen Victoria and Benjamin Disraeli.

A major work by Tweed is in St Paul's Cathedral. It is part of a memorial inside St Paul’s Cathedral London dedicated to the Duke of Wellington.

The concept of the monument was the work of Alfred Stevens, who also, between 1858 and 1875, carried out much of the work, but left it uncompleted at his death. The monument stood originally in what is now the Chapel of St Michael and St George. It was moved to its present site in 1906.

Above the arch is a large block in the shape of a chest, which serves as the plinth for an equestrian statue, realised by John Tweed from studies by Stevens, and made between 1899 and 1911.

For more about the memorial see www.explore-stpauls.net/oct03/textMM/Wellingt...

There was much controversy about whether Tweed should complete the memorial which had been commenced in 1857 based upon Stevens design and was uncompleted at his death in 1875. GBP14,000 had been voted to pay for the memorial, but it was not enough and Stevens used his own money to help pay for it until his death. In February 1903 the New York Times reported that the Daily Telegraph and other newspapers questioned Tweed's ability to complete the bronze, although at the same time the Scottish newspapers defended Tweed.

NYT observed that the Government would pay the GBP2000 needed for completion, and somewhat optimistically stated, "in view of the controversy it is likely there will be little further delay in completing the statue", see WELLINGTON'S MONUMENT; Proposed Completion of the Work in St ... However, this view was optimistic and it took Tweed until 1911, another eight years to complete the memorial. 1307

Important discovery - Later - A kind private collector has forwarded me images of a bust owned by the collector which was sculpted by John Tweed. The bust is inscribed; "" To Mon Ami Docteur Jamerson [sic]" Paris 97 John Tweed ". Despite the spelling, this appears to relate to Dr Leander Starr Jameson and so this an important bust in the history of South Africa. More about Jameson can be seen at Dr Leander Starr Jameson