Nationality United Kingdom Role Sculptor | Name John Bunting Occupation Sculptor | |
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Full Name John Joseph Bunting Died November 19, 2002, London, United Kingdom | ||
John Joseph Bunting (3 August 1927 in London – 19 November 2002 in London), sculptor and teacher. Evacuated to Yorkshire in 1939, he was sent to the Ampleforth College's Benedictine Monastic School. He was influenced by furniture-maker Robert (Mouseman) Thompson in nearby Kilburn, North Yorkshire and after Oxford University and a period of National Service, he returned to Yorkshire as Thompson's wood shop apprentice in 1948.
A meeting with Henry Moore led to him attending Saint Martin's School of Art and then the Royal College of Art in 1950.
He was appointed Master of Drawing at Ampleforth College in 1955 where his pupils included sculptors Antony Gormley, Martin Jennings, painter Andrew Festing and wood engraver Simon Brett. His life and work as a sculptor is recounted by Dr Jonathan Black in his book 'Spirit of Faith', published in 2012 by the John Bunting Foundation (www.johnbuntingfoundation.com).
He died in 2002. His long history with and restoration of a chapel and creation of its sculptures are documented in the book: The Plot: A Biography of an English Acre, by writer Madeleine Bunting, one of his five children.
