(Arthur) Barney Seale ARBS
Born 1896
Died 22 July 1957
Active: 1922 - 1957
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, painter
Born in Peckham, London. Son of (John Hugh) Gilbert Seale (1862-1933), architectural sculptor and grandson of John Wesley Seale (1825-85), also an architectural sculptor. His older brother was John Hector (born 1884) who entered the family firm, G. Seale and Son Ltd. c.1911. Barney was privately educated at Cliftonville College in Thanet, Kent. He enlisted in the Artists' Rifles in August 1914 and received his commission in 1915. Seale later served as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps, Cheshire Regiment.
His relationship with the family firm is uncertain, however it seems probable that he received some training or worked in the family workshop. Certainly Seale's reputation rested on works of a broadly architectural nature, particularly large-scale pieces for temporary exhibitions and decorative schemes for ocean liners. These included a thirty-eight foot high group of a man, woman and child that surmounted the British Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition, Glasgow, 1938 and a sixteen foot long Royal Lion for the New York World Fair, 1939. He also created the Spirit of the North Atlantic for the Mauretania and bronze groups for the Caronia. Appropriately Seale worked from the studio in which Captain Adrian Jones (a fellow member of the Chelsea Arts Club) created the 'Quadriga' for the arch on Constitution Hill, Hyde Park Corner.
Seale also painted in oils and created a number of portraits. Many of his sitters were friends and fellow artists, notably Augustus John, James Pryde, Thomas Cantrell Dugdale and C.R.W. Nevinson (with whom Seale exhibited at the Leger Galleries in 1931). He was a lively, sociable character who was an active member of a number of clubs (including the Arts Club, Savage and Chelsea Arts Club) and generous in his support of other artists. Seale was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Society of British Sculptors and Royal Society of British Artists (from 1938). From the mid-1920s he maintained a house in Walton-on-Thames as well as a London studio. This was probably made possible by assistance from his father who made significant sums of money from the family business. Seale died suddenly at his home in Chelsea.
Wealth at death: £16,259 10s. 5d.
Probate date: 11 December 1957
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.
Grief
1936 (Presumed)
C. R. W. Nevinson
1936 (Presumed)
Judas
1937 (Circa)
Sinister Head
1937
Locations
Address 5 Rossetti Garden Mansions Chelsea London | View on map
1922 (Circa) - 1926 (Circa)
Address Ashley House Oatland Drive Walton-on-Thames | View on map
1926 (Circa) - 1945 (Circa)
Address 147 Church Street Chelsea London | View on map
1938 - 1957
Studio located at Studio 332 King's Road London | View on map
1930 (Circa) - 1938
Studio located at 141A Old Church Street Chelsea London SW3 | View on map
1938 (Circa) - 1957
This studio was located at the back of his home at 147 Old Church Street and formerly belonged to Captain Adrian Jones
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Aberdeen Artists' Society Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, 1937
'Judas'
Exhibited at Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Fifty-Fourth Annual Exhibition, 1936
1 June 1936 - 23 September 1936
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1936 - 1938
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 3 times: 1936 (2 works), 1937 (1 work) and 1938 (1 work)
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1937 - 1941
Exhibited 3 times, four works in all (a large scale head of Augustus John in 1937 (cat. no. 1515) and models for large scale sculptures thereafter)
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
1938
Institutional and Business Connections
Associate member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
2 April 1935 - 1943
Became fellow in 1943.
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1943 - 1957
Died in 1957.
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1948 - 1949
Unsuccessful in ballot for election to Royal Academy of Arts
For Associate of the Royal Academy [ARA], despite nominations in 1938 and 1946.
Personal and Professional Connections
Daughter/son/child of (John Hugh) Gilbert Seale
Granddaughter/grandson/grandchild of John Wesley Seale
Nominated by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale
12 July 1938
For Associate of the Royal Academy [ARA]; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Gilbert Ledward
12 July 1938 - February 1946
Two nominations for Associate of the Royal Academy [ARA], in 1938 and 1946, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by Charles Thomas Wheeler
12 July 1938 - February 1946
Two nominations for Associate of the Royal Academy [ARA], in 1938 and 1946, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by Henry George Rushbury
12 July 1938
For Associate of the Royal Academy [ARA]; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Charles E. Cundall
February 1946
For Associate of the Royal Academy [ARA]; unsuccessful.
Sister/sibling of John Hector Seale
Sources
Aberdeen Artists' Society. Twenty-Fourth Exhibition of Works of Modern Masters, 1937
November 1937
p. 69
British Phone Books, 1885-1984
2007
Name: A.Barney Seale
Address: 6 [5] Rossetti Gdn Mans S.W.3
Exchange: nu Kensington
Directory title: London Surnames A - Z Oct
Publication Year: 1922
Directory County: London
Page Number: 785
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Arthur B Seale
Death Registration Month/Year: 1957
Age at death (estimated): 61
Registration district: Chelsea
Inferred County: London
Volume: 5c
Page: 237
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Arthur Seale
Year of Registration: 1896
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Camberwell
County: Greater London, London, Surrey
Volume: 1d
Page: 952
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Arthur Seale
Probate Date: 11 Dec 1957
Death Date: 22 Jul 1957
Death Place: London, England
Registry: London, England
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Palace of Arts
Empire Exhibition
Scotland
1938
The Fine Art Section of the Empire Exhibition
1938
Public Sculpture of the City of London Public Sculpture of Britain Volume Five
2003
p. 477
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.250.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, c.1939-c.1961
1961 (Circa)
p.107.
Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Fifty-Fourth Annual Exhibition
1936
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of the Council, for the Year Ending 31 December 1949, to be Presented at the Forty-Sixth Annual General Meeting, 1950
February 1950
p. 2.
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Tuesday, Jul 23, 1957; pg. 12; Issue 53900; col B
Mr. Barney Seale Sculpture On A Large Scale
Category: Obituaries AND The Times, Thursday, Jul 25, 1957; pg. 15; Issue 53902; col D
Mr. Barney Seale
Category: Obituaries
Who was Who
December 2007
‘SEALE, A. Barney’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U242777, accessed 25 Jan 2009]
Citing this record
'(Arthur) Barney Seale ARBS', 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_1217338986, accessed 02 Oct 2023]
