The son of the sculptor Alexander Rhind (1834–1886), and the father of a sculptor, also named Alexander Rhind, he was born and died in Edinburgh. Despite his connection with one of the city’s great sculptural dynasties (he was the nephew of John Rhind), little is known of his life, and his artistic output is poorly documented. He attended life classes at the Royal Scottish Academy, 1881–87, but had been exhibiting at the RSA annual exhibitions as early as 1877, going on to contribute 54 works over a period of more than forty years. These were mostly subject pieces, with titles such as Extremes Meet (1892), and included a bas relief, Christ Before Pilate, which was awarded the Stuart Prize in 1883. He produced a number of funerary works with bronze profile medallions and free-standing busts, such as the monuments to Thomas Stuart Burnett (c.1889), and Sir James Steel (1906), both in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh; a marble copy by him of Patric Park’s portrait of James Young Simpson is now in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. From 1901, he was one of several sculptors working at the Dean Studio, the Arts and Crafts collective on Belford Road, Edinburgh. His statue of King Edward VII (1913–14) is in Victoria Park, Edinburgh.
Sources: Johnston, W.T., Dictionary of Scottish Artists (c.2000), Scottish National Library, ref CD-ROM.585; McEwan, P.J.M., The Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture, Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 2004; Mapping Sculpture.
Ray McKenzie 2018