Edward Clark Potter
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His works include the "Fortitude" lion in front of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
.
Early years
Born in New London, ConnecticutNew London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, he grew up in Enfield, Massachusetts
Enfield, Massachusetts
Enfield was formerly a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, incorporated in 1816 from portions of Greenwich and Belchertown. It was named in honor of one of its early settlers, Robert Field...
where he lived with his mother Mary and sister Clara. There he went to local schools. At 17, due to his mother's wish that he become a minister, he entered Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts
Easthampton, Massachusetts
Easthampton is the second largest city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is on the southeastern edge of an area called the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst, MA...
for four years. He entered Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
in the class of 1882. He only attended for three semesters, but later was granted an honorary Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
. He studied drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
with Frederic Crowninshield
Frederic Crowninshield
Frederic Crowninshield was an American artist and author.-Life:Crowningshield was born in Boston on November 27, 1845 into the Crowninshield family....
and Otto Grundmann. There he also did some modelling with the sculptor Truman H. Bartlett.
Career
In 1883 he became an assistant to Daniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
and concentrated on animal studies and working as a manager and salesman in the quarries.
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Antonin Mercié
Antonin Mercié
Marius Jean Antonin Mercié , was a French sculptor and painter.- Life :Mercié was born in Toulouse. He entered the École des Beaux Arts, Paris, and studied under Alexandre Falguière and François Jouffroy, and in 1868 gained the Grand Prix de Rome at the age of 23...
and Emmanuel Frémiet
Emmanuel Frémiet
Emmanuel Frémiet was a French sculptor. He is famous for his sculpture of Joan of Arc in Paris and the monument to Ferdinand de Lesseps in Suez....
, becoming an accomplished animalier
Animalier
An animalier is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists...
(animal sculptor). During his years there, he exhibited several pieces at the Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
: small groups of rabbits, a bust of a black man, a sketch from an American Indian group, and a sleeping faun with a rabbit.
For the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
he collaborated with his teacher and friend Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
on several of the important sculptures of the exposition. Unfortunately these statues, like most of the architecture of the fair, were made of staff; a temporary material of plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
, cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
, and jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
fibers, first used in buildings of the Paris exhibition
Exposition Universelle (1878)
The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May through to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.-Construction:...
in 1878.
He was elected to the National Sculpture Society
National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...
in 1893, and joined the Society of American Artists
Society of American Artists
The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
in 1894. This later merged with the National Academy
National academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanities. Typically the country's learned societies in...
, to which he was elected in 1906. Potter won a Gold Medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
in St. Louis in 1904.
His most famous work is the pair of pink Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
marble lions in front of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
, carved by the Piccirilli brothers
Piccirilli Brothers
The Piccirilli Brothers were a family of renowned marble carvers who carved a large number of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.-History:In 1888, Giuseppe Piccirilli , a...
. Potter was recommended for this commission by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
. The lions were originally nicknamed "Leo Astor" and "Leo Lenox", for the two private libraries that formed the collection's core, but mayor Fiorello La Guardia re-named them for qualities New Yorkers were showing in weathering the Great Depression — "Patience" (on the left or south) and "Fortitude" (on the right or north) — and those names have stuck.
From 1902 on, a native of Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, he sculpted the memorial to Raynal Bolling
Raynal Bolling
Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling was the first high-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in World War I. He laid the foundation for the United States Army Air Service in the American Expeditionary Force...
there. The Cos Cob
Cos Cob, Connecticut
Cos Cob is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. It is located at 41.033 north, 73.6 west, on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County. It had a population of 6,770 at the 2010 census....
section of Greenwich is considered one of the birthplaces of American Impressionism. Potter was a founder and first president of the Greenwich Society of Artists, founded in 1912.
He died at his summer home in New London, Connecticut.
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893
(These were temporary sculptures, all were destroyed.)- Grand Court
- Statue of the RepublicStatue of the RepublicThe Statue of the Republic is a gilded bronze sculpture in Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois. The statue was built in 1918 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago and the Illinois statehood centennial...
- Statue of Industry
- Statue of Plenty
- Statue of The Teamster
- Quadriga (horse-drawn chariot)
- Quadriga outriders
Equestrian statues
- Equestrian Statue of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, Fairmount ParkFairmount ParkFairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1893-98). - Equestrian Statue of George Washington, Place d'Iéna, Paris, France (1900).
- Equestrian Statue of George Washington, Washington ParkWashington Park (Chicago park)On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President Ulysses Grant took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park...
, Chicago, Illinois (1900-04). This is a replica of the statue in Paris. - Equestrian Statue of Major General Joseph HookerJoseph HookerJoseph Hooker was a career United States Army officer, achieving the rank of major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, Hooker is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E...
, Massachusetts Statehouse, Boston, Massachusetts (1903). - Progress of the State QuadrigaProgress of the StateProgress of the State is the title of a group of sculptural figures that sits above the south portico, at the main entrance to the state capitol at Saint Paul, in the U.S. state of Minnesota....
, Minnesota State CapitolMinnesota State CapitolThe Minnesota State Capitol is located in Minnesota's capital city, Saint Paul, and houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Governor...
, Cass GilbertCass Gilbert- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
, architect, St. Paul, Minnesota (1905-07).
Selected works
- Sleeping Faun, Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York City (1887-89).http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/american_paintings_and_sculpture/sleeping_faun_edward_clark_potter/objectview.aspx?collID=2&OID=20012145 - Bust of Vice President William A. WheelerWilliam A. WheelerWilliam Almon Wheeler was a Representative from New York and the 19th Vice President of the United States .-Early life and career:...
, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC (1890-92).http://www.senate.gov/vtour/wheel.htm - Governor Austin BlairAustin BlairAustin Blair , also known as the Civil War Governor, was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan...
, Michigan State CapitolMichigan State CapitolThe Michigan State Capitol is the building housing the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the state capital of Lansing in Ingham County...
, Lansing, Michigan (1895-98). - Robert FultonRobert FultonRobert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
, Rotunda Reading Room, Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, Washington, DC (1897). One of 16 bronze statues set around the third-floor balustrade. - John Paul JonesJohn Paul JonesJohn Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to...
, Dewey Triumphal ArchDewey ArchThe Dewey Arch was a triumphal arch that stood from 1899 to 1901 at Madison Square in Manhattan, New York. It had been erected for the parade in honor of Admiral George Dewey to celebrate his victory in the Battle of Manila Bay at the Philippines in 1898....
, Madison Square, New York City (1899, destroyed). - Equestrian Statue of Major General Henry W. Slocum, Gettysburg BattlefieldGettysburg BattlefieldThe Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the 4 acre site of the first shot & at on the west of the borough, to East...
, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1902).http://www.gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/Individuals/Slocum.php - Equestrian Statue of Major General Charles DevensCharles DevensCharles Devens was an American lawyer, jurist and statesman. He also served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, Worcester County Courthouse, Worcester, Massachusetts (1905-06).http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1082/1345714715_c1c56b73c3.jpg - Indian Religion (Buddha), Brooklyn MuseumBrooklyn MuseumThe Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, Brooklyn, New York (1907-09).http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/21440/Indian_Religion - Indian Philosophy (Sankara), Brooklyn MuseumBrooklyn MuseumThe Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, Brooklyn, New York (1907-09).http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/21439/Indian_Philosophy - Sighting the Enemy (George Armstrong Custer Equestrian MonumentGeorge Armstrong Custer Equestrian MonumentThe George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument, also known as Sighting the Enemy, is an equestrian statue of George Armstrong Custer by Edward Clark Potter, located in Monroe, Michigan. The statue was unveiled on June 4, 1910...
), Monroe, Michigan (1908-10). - Equestrian Statue of Major General George B. McClellanGeorge B. McClellanGeorge Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
, Smith Memorial ArchSmith Memorial ArchSmith Memorial Arch is an American Civil War monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built on the former grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it serves as a gateway to West Fairmount Park...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1909-11).http://www.philart.net/images/large/smamcclellan.jpg - Lions, New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
, New York City (1910-11). - Equestrian Statue of Major General Philip KearnyPhilip KearnyPhilip Kearny, Jr., was a United States Army officer, notable for his leadership in the Mexican-American War and American Civil War. He was killed in action in the 1862 Battle of Chantilly.-Early life and career:...
, Arlington National CemeteryArlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
, Arlington, Virginia (1912-14). - The Bugler (Brookline Civil War Monument), Brookline, Massachusetts (1915).http://www.flickr.com/photos/miked378/3122804586/
- Equestrian Statue of Major General John A. McClernand, Vicksburg, Mississippi (1919).http://www.flickr.com/photos/23169458@N07/3557436157/
- Raynal Bolling MemorialRaynal BollingColonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling was the first high-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in World War I. He laid the foundation for the United States Army Air Service in the American Expeditionary Force...
, Greenwich, Connecticut (1922).
