Daniel Chester French

Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Born April 20, 1850(1850-04-20)
Exeter, New Hampshire
Died October 7, 1931(1931-10-07) (aged 81)
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Nationality American
Field Sculpture
Movement American Renaissance
Influenced by Hiram Powers, Thomas Ball

Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln (1920) at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Contents

Life and career

French was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Henry Flagg French (1813–1885), a lawyer, Assistant US Treasury Secretary and author of a book that described the French drain.[1] Daniel Chester French was a neighbor and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the Alcott family. His decision to pursue sculpting was influenced by Louisa May Alcott's sister May Alcott.

Chesterwood in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, French's summer home and studio is now a museum

After a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, French worked on his father's farm. While visiting relatives in Brooklyn, New York City, he spent a month in the studio of John Quincy Adams Ward, then began to work on commissions, and at the age of twenty-three received from the town of Concord, Massachusetts, an order for his well-known statue The Minute Man, which was unveiled April 19, 1875 on the centenary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Previously French had gone to Florence, Italy, where he spent a year working with sculptor Thomas Ball.

French was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1913.[2] In 1917, he designed the Pulitzer Prize gold medal presented to laureates.[3] In collaboration with Edward Clark Potter he modelled the George Washington statue, presented to France by the Daughters of the American Revolution; the General Grant in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, and the General Joseph Hooker statue in Boston.

In 1893, French was a founding member of the National Sculpture Society, and he became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. French also became a member of the National Academy of Design (1901), the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Architectural League, and the Accademia di San Luca, of Rome. French was one of many sculptors who frequently employed Audrey Munson as a model. Together with Walter Leighton Clark and others, he was also one of the founders of the Berkshire Playhouse,[4] which later became the Berkshire Theatre Festival.

French died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1931 at age 81 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts.

Legacy

  • Chesterwood, French's summer home and studio – designed by his architect friend and frequent collaborator Henry Bacon – is now a museum.
  • In 1940, French was selected as one of five artists to be honored in the 35-stamp "Famous Americans" series.[5]

Works

Abraham Lincoln (1920) in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
Minute Man (1874) in Concord, Massachusetts

Notable public monuments


Architectural sculpture

Justice (1900) adorns the pediment of the Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State in Manhattan
Marshall Field Memorial (1906), Chicago

Cemetery monuments

Selected museum pieces

Miscellaneous pieces

References

Daniel Chester French's Minute Man depicted on US Postage Satamp, 1940 Issue, 5c
~ Daniel Chester French ~
Issue of 1940
Notes
  1. ^ French, Henry F. (1859). Farm drainage: the principles, processes, and effects of draining land with stones, wood, plows, and open ditches, and especially with tiles. New York: Orange Judd & Company. 
  2. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter F". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  3. ^ Homren, Wayne (11 April 2004). "Pulitzer Secrets Revealed". The E-Sylum 7 (15, art. 5). http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n15a05.html. Retrieved 2007-07-01. 
  4. ^ http://www.berkshireweb.com/culture/index.html
  5. ^ http://www.1847usa.com/identify/YearSets/FamousAmericans.htm
  6. ^ Chicago Landmarks | Statue of The Republic at www.ci.chi.il.us
  7. ^ Ramsey Al-Rikabi (2007-06-12). "Seward's bust gets busted". Times Herald-Record. http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612/NEWS/706120313/-1/COMM0203. Retrieved 2007-06-30. 
Further reading
  • Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer, Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, 1995
  • Caffin, Charles H., American Masters of Sculpture, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York 1913
  • Caffin, in International Studio, volumes xx (1903), lx (1910), and lxvi (1912)
  • Carlock, Marty, A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston from Newburyport to Plymouth, The Harvard Common Press, Boston Massachusetts, 1988
  • Chesterwood Archives, Geographical List of Works: DRAFT, unpublished manuscript, April 14, 1993
  • Coughlan, in Magazine of Art (1901)
  • Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y. Crowell Co, NY, NY 1968
  • Cresson, Margaret French, Journey in Fame: The Life of Daniel Chaster French, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1947
  • Hucke, Matt and Ursela Bielski, Graveyards of Chicago: the People, History, Art and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries, Lake Claremont Press, Chicago, 1999
  • Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture in America
  • Lanctot, Barbara, A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery, Chicago Architectural Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, 1988
  • Richman, Michael, Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor, The Preservation Press, Washington D.C., 1976
  • Taft, Lorado, The History of American Sculpture, MacMillan Co., New York, NY 1925
  • Wilson, Susan, Garden of Memorias: A Guide to Historic Forest Hills, Forest Hills Educational Trust

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Daniel Chester French — Daniel Chester French, um 1902 Autogramm von Daniel Chester French …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Daniel Chester French — Pour les articles homonymes, voir French. Daniel Chester French …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Daniel Chester French — noun United States sculptor who created the seated marble figure of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. (1850 1931) • Syn: ↑French • Instance Hypernyms: ↑sculptor, ↑sculpturer, ↑carver, ↑statue maker …   Useful english dictionary

  • Daniel Chester French — n. (1850 1931) U.S.A. sculptor who created the seated marble statue of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. (USA) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Chester French — This article is about the band. For the sculptor, see Daniel Chester French. Chester French Chester French performing performing on Treasure Island in California in September 2008 …   Wikipedia

  • French,Daniel Chester — French, Daniel Chester. 1850 1931. American sculptor whose many public statues include the seated marble figure of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. * * * …   Universalium

  • French, Daniel Chester — born April 20, 1850, Exeter, N.H., U.S. died Oct. 7, 1931, Stockbridge, Mass. U.S. sculptor. He produced his first important commission for the town of Concord, Mass. the famous statue The Minute Man (1874). He was the leading turn of the century …   Universalium

  • Chester, New Hampshire —   Town   Location in Rockingham County, New Hampshire …   Wikipedia

  • Daniel French — may refer to: Daniel French (inventor) (1770–1853), American inventor and steamboat pioneer Daniel Chester French (1850–1931), American sculptor See also D. French Slaughter, Jr., Daniel French Slaughter, Jr. This disambiguation page lists… …   Wikipedia

  • French — bezeichnet: englisch für Französisch French, medizinische Maßeinheit im englischen Sprachraum, siehe Charrière (Einheit) Kurzform für French Manicure, eine Art des Nageldesigns Nicci French, das Pseudonym des Krimi Autoren Ehepaares Nicci Gerrard …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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