Millard Fillmore Malin Jr (October 25, 1891 – March 1975) was an American sculptor most noted for his statues of the Angel Moroni, such as the one on the Los Angeles Temple, and the Sugar House Monument. He sculpted in the realist style. He worked extensively with architect Edward O. Anderson, designing statuary for several other Latter-day Saints temples, such as the ones in Switzerland, England and New Zealand. He also sculpted busts of figures such as Henry H. Blood, former Governor of Utah.
Biography Malin was born on October 25, 1891 in Salt Lake CityUniversity of Utah. Millard F. Malin Papers. Accessed August 15, 2025. to Millard Fillmore Malin Sr (1851-1937)"Millard F. Malin", Deseret News, June 9, 1937, p. 14. Accessed August 15, 2025. and Annie Pinnock Malin (1863-1935). He had three sisters. Malin's mother was born in London but raised in the United States, and was involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by composing songs and poems for children."Annie Pinnock Malin Dies; Funeral Friday", Deseret News, March 21, 1935, p. 5. Accessed August 15, 2025. He traveled to New Zealand in 1909 and lived there for three years as a missionary.
When he returned to Utah, he studied medicine, specifically human anatomy, at the University of Utah. There, he befriended Edward O. Anderson and studied under as Edwin Evans, but left in 1915 after just one year so he could save money to study art in New York.Springville Art Museum. Malin, Millard Fillmore (1891-1974). Accessed August 15, 2025; archived July 28, 2011. In 1917, he started attending the National Academy of Design, where he studied under Hermon A. MacNeil. He also studied design at Beaux-Arts Institute of Design."Salt Lake sculptor creates prize-winning Utah entry", The Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 24, 1941, p. 18. Accessed August 15, 2025. During his schooling, he worked with MacNeil on the Statue of Ezra Cornell at Cornell University. In the 1920s, he worked as an assistant to Gutzon Borglum on the Confederate Memorial Carving at Stone Mountain in Georgia."Native of Utah wins credit on pioneer shaft", The Salt Lake Tribune, November 19, 1934, p. 16. Accessed August 15, 2025. After completing his education, Malin returned to Utah, where he established a studio with Edward Anderson. The two collaborated on the Sugar House Monument, which was completed in 1930, and he sculpted statues, including Angel Moroni, for several of the LDS temples designed by Anderson."Bern Switzerland Temple", Church News, Feb. 22, 2010. Accessed August 15, 2025.Garrick Infanger. "Angel Moroni: Legacy of Sculpture", The Krakens, Nov. 18, 2015. Accessed August 15, 2025.
In 1934, he completed a bronze bust of Governor Henry H. Blood, now at Camp Williams. In 1934 and 1935, he worked on two marble busts of Ute Natives, Chief John Duncan (1849-1941) and Unca Sam (1832-1938), now housed at the Utah State Capitol, for the Federal Art Project.Federal Writers Project. Utah: A Guide to the State, US History Publishers, 1954, pp. 168, 248-249. Accessed August 15, 2025. .Donna L. Poulton and Vern G. Swanson. Painter's of Utah's Canyond and Deserts, Gibbs Smith, p. 64. . In 1953, he created a 15-foot tall Angel Moroni for the Los Angeles Temple.J. Michael Hunter, "I Saw Another Angel Fly", Ensign, January 2000, p. 30R. Scott Lloyd. "Another angel", Church News, Sep. 20, 2008. Accessed August 15, 2025.Arnold K. Garr, Donald Q. Cannon and Richard O. Cowan, ed. Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History, Deseret Book Co., 2000, p. 680. He then designed the oxen that hold up the baptismal font of the Bern Switzerland Temple"This week in Church history, Church News, Jan. 22, 2005. Accessed August 15, 2025. and created additional sculptures for the temples in England and the New Zealand. In 1964, he sculpted three giant concrete dinosaurs, the largest reaching 17 feet tall, to be installed at the Utah Field House of Natural History."Museum Ready for Casts", The Ephraim Enterprise, April 10, 1964, p. 4. Accessed August 15, 2025.
Malin taught sculpture at the Utah Art Center in the 1930s and 1940s,"Art Barn Winter Term Beginning", The Bulletin, Dec. 9, 1949, p. 3. Accessed August 15, 2025."Rising young artist to teach at Art Barn during summer term", The Ephraim Enterprise, June 4, 1950, p. 66. Accessed August 15, 2025. and at Gonzaga University. Among those who studied under Malin were Maurice E. Brooks and Alice Morrey Bailey."Fine Talent Displayed", The Salt Lake Tribune, June 13, 1948, p. 94. Accessed August 15, 2025. He was also a founding member of the Modern Artists of Utah and had at least one poem published in the LDS Church's periodical Improvement Era. He also wrote three books about planetary systems: The Center of Gravity, Solar Arrangement, and Mystery of the Sun.
Personal life and death Malin married Rosalind Pidge Marshall (1913-1971) in Elko, Nevada in August 1958. She was a schoolteacher and sculptor."Rosalind P. Malin", The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 7, 1971, p. 38. Accessed August 15, 2025. Malin died at his home in Salt Lake City in March 1975."M. F. Malin sculptor dies at 83", Deseret News, March 29, 1975, p. 10. Accessed August 15, 2025.
His childhood home, built by his father in 1889, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 1983."Malin, Millard F., House", National Park Service. Accessed August 15, 2025.
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