Walter Marsden MC
Born 1882
Died August 1969
Active: 1909 - 1961
Country of birth and death: Great Britain
Sculptor, teacher of modelling
Born in Church, Lancashire. Son of a blacksmith. Died in London (probably). Began studying art at Accrington Technical School, having had his talents recognised whilst working in the terra cotta department of the Accrington Brick and Tile Company. Studied at Manchester Municipal College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London under Lanteri.
At some point after 1941, Marsden became Head of Sculpture at St Martins School of Art and taught there until at least the early 1950s. James Butler RA was a student of Marsden and his associate, S. Birnie (Jock) Stewart, between 1949 and 1951. Butler remarks 'they were excellent tutors and I have great regard for them both.' In Butler's last term at St Martins, he recalls that Marsden brought in the carver Gerald Giudici to demonstrate how to copy a plaster cast into stone. In readiness for this, a nicely sawn piece of Portland stone was set up on a banker and a plaster cast of a bust was placed nearby. To make room for using a pointing machine, Giudici had to use a pitcher to knock off some sizeable lumps of stone from the sawn face of the block. A part time student suddenly exclaimed "Sacrilege". Giudici turned around quickly and called the student an idiot, in doing so he knocked Butler's plaster bust to the floor and it smashed in smithereens. Giudici took one look at this and said "Bugger this I'm off ", and left. This ended the attempt to teach the students some practical stone carving skills.
Between 1951 and about 1961, Butler worked for Gerald Giudici as a stone carver. During this time he carved a Virgin and Child for Marsden which is in a church in Kennington.
The entry includes information submitted by James Butler MBE RA.
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Designs for Door Knocker, Handle and Letter Box
Design for Platform End of a Concert Room
Detail of Design for Notice Board
The Victim
1938
Locations
Address 1A Clareville Grove London SW7 | View on map
1920 (Circa) - 1961 (Circa)
Up to 1915 he was living in Lancashire, in the Manchester area. During 2WW he gave service addresses when he exhibited.
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at City of Manchester Art Gallery, Exhibition of Recent Works Executed by Students of the Municipal School of Art, Manchester, 1912
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1915 - 1961
Exhibited 19 times up to 1950 then a further 6 times, usually one work per year.
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, 1861-1951
1925
Exhibited once, one work
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
1938
Speaker at Medieval English Painting (Art Workers Guild), 1933
Speaker at Publicity, Art and Morality (Art Workers Guild), 1934
Speaker at American Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1935
Speaker at Pre-Raphaelite Sculptors (Art Workers Guild), 1937
Speaker at The Darlington Hall Experiment (Art Workers Guild), 1937
Speaker at The Principles of Art Criticism (Art Workers Guild), 1937
Speaker at A Critical Survey of the Coronation Decorations (Art Workers Guild), 1937
Speaker at Art in General Education (Art Workers Guild), 1938
Speaker at Scotland's Contribution to the Arts (Art Workers Guild), 1938
Speaker at Comparative Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1938
Speaker at New Light on Old Masters (Art Workers Guild), 1938
Won prize Constance Fund, 1944-
1948
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1926 - 1938
Became fellow in 1938.
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1938 - 1956
Member of Art Workers Guild
7 February 1930 - 1941
Resigned in 1941.
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1930 - 1946
Served as a member of the Council from 1930 to 1932, from May 1935 to 1936 and again from 1944
Student at Manchester School of Art
1908 (Circa)
Studied at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
21 November 1919
Listed as a student at the College (no start date is given). Left the College in the 1919-1920 session. Subsequent profession is described as 'Modelling on Commission': see 'Register of R. C. A. Students' (1907-1924), p. 126.
Teacher of modeling at St Martin's School of Art
1944 - 1952 (Presumed)
Listed as a teacher of modelling in the day school only in 1945-1946. There are no avaliable prospectuses from 1941-1944 and Marsden is not listed on the staff in 1939-1940. However, he is listed as a new member of the 'temporary aditional staff' in meeting minutes of the Advisory Sub-Committee, on the 6 June, 1944.
Note that in the 1947-1948 prospectus, Marsden is described as teacher of sculpture and S. B. Stewart is listed as teacher of modelling.
From 1948 to 1952 Marsden is still listed as a teacher in the prospectuses, however, these do not specify the type of course that he taught.
Based on information submitted by James Butler RA who was a student at St Martins from 1949-51, Walter Marsden was Head of the Sculpture Department and S. Birnie (Jock) Stewart was an assistant tutor.
Personal and Professional Connections
Worked with Gerald (Gerolamo) Giudici
Marsden was Head of the Sculpture Department at St Martins School of Art and in 1951 brought in Gerald Giudici to teach final year students how to copy a work cast in plaster into stone. The class was not a success - there is an account of this in the entry for Walter Marsden submitted by James Butler RA. Butler later worked for Giudici and carved a Virgin and Child for Walter Marsden which is sited in a church in Kennington.
Worked with Sydney S. Birnie Stewart
1947 (Circa) - 1952 (Circa)
Marsden was Head of the Sculpture Department at St Martins School of Art and S. Birnie (Jock) Stewart was a tutor.
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors The London Directory, 1930 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Apprentice, terracotta'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Modeller in Clays'
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1930, p.12, p.31; 1933, p.13, p.36.
Catalogue of the Exhibition of Recent Works Executed by Students of the Municipal School of Art, Manchester, MCMXII
1912
Cat. Nos. 323, 330, 331, 346, 349, 350, pp. 27, 29
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 3860; Folio: 67; Page: 30.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN23914 RG78PN1380B RD464 SD4 ED49 SN192
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Meeting of the Advisory Sub-Committee of St Martin's School of Art, 6 June 1944 St Martin's School of Art. Committee of Managers Minute Book
6 June 1944
pp. 1-2.
Municipal School of Art, Manchester, List of Successes Obtained at the Examinations of the Board of Education, Session 1908-1909
1909
pp. 66, 68, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 79, 81, 84
Palace of Arts
Empire Exhibition
Scotland
1938
The Fine Art Section of the Empire Exhibition
1938
Register of Royal College of Art Students, 1907-1924 Royal College of Art
1907
p. 126.
The fifty-eighth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1942
1942
p.9.
The fifty-fifth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1939
1939
pp.10-12, p.17.
The fifty-first annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1935
1935
p.14.
The fifty-fourth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1938
1938
pp.13-15.
The fifty-second annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1936
1936
p.9.
The fifty-sixth annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1940
1940
p.41.
The London Directory, 1930 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1930
p. 1354
Citing this record
'Walter Marsden MC', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1207683473, accessed 28 May 2023]
