William F. Ward
UAP Biography
William Ward was born in Leicester, England in 1827. He was a stone sculptor, an architect, and a painter. He joined the LDS Church and moved to Utah sometime in the 1840s. Ward died in 1893.
Ward was trained almost from infancy as a stonemason by his father. He moved on to become an apprentice to an architect in the English Gothic tradition, and also managed to gain some knowledge of painting technique.
In America he sculptured the Baptismal Font for the Nauvoo Temple, The Deseret Bloc for Washington Monument, The Couchant Lion for Brigham Young's Lion House which Ward designed; had a "lion's share" in the design of the Salt Lake City Endowment House.
Biography courtesy Artists of Utah.
Additional Biography
William Ward of Salt Lake City was Utah's first major sculptor in stone as well as a good architect, a painter, and essentially one of the least known of our really important pioneer artists. Originally from Leicester, England north west of London, Ward was trained almost from infancy as a stonemason by his father. He moved on to become an apprentice to an architect in the English Gothic tradition, and also managed to gain some knowledge of painting technique. Such skills were put to important use upon his arrival in America (1840s-50s): he sculptured the Baptismal Font for the Nauvoo Temple, The Deseret Bloc for the Washington Monument, The Couchant Lion for Brigham Young's Lion House which Ward designed; had a "lion's share" in the design of the Salt Lake Temple; and painted mural for the Salt Lake City Endowment House. Then he left town because of his working relationship with Truman Angell.
IN the 1880s and '90s, Ward taught mechanical and architectural drawings at the University of Deseret (U of U), came in "second best" in the first Salt Lake City and County Building competition and designed the Armstrong house that is located on the northwest corner of Salt Lake's Second East and Seventh South Streets.
Biography courtesy Artists of Utah.
Bibliography
Books
Olpin, Robert S., William C. Seifrit, and Vern G. Swanson. Artists of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Art. Layton, UT: Peregrine Smith Books, 1992.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Painting and Sculpture. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1991.
