Glasgow born sculptor John Tweed dropped out of school after his father’s death to run his publishing company. He studied part-time at the Glasgow School of Art, later completing his education at the Royal Academy Schools and the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1895 he married Edith Clinton, secretary to the Women’s Suffrage Society.
Selling his father’s publishing company in 1890 funded his move to London, where he joined Thornycroft working on the frieze for the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ building. After his studies in France he produced a sculpture for Cecil Rhodes in 1895, followed by many other South African commissions. In 1901 he received the controversial commission to complete Alfred Steven’s work on the Wellington Memorial. Attacked by many critics, including painter D.S. McColl who had appointed him, he nevertheless saw the project through, finishing in 1912. He also produced many other works.
His home at Cheyne Walk was made famous by the regular visits from 1901 to 1914 of Tweed’s closest friend, Auguste Rodin. Shy Rodin feared London life so Tweed and his wife did everything in their power to support the artist, who in return offered them free use of a cottage and studio at his home in Meudon. Tweed died in a nursing home in Langham Street in 1933 and is buried at Chelsea Old Church in Cheyne Walk.