Frederick Warren Allen
Encyclopedia
Frederick Warren Allen (1888–1961) was an American sculptor of the Boston School
. One of the most prominent sculptors in Boston
during the early 20th century and a master teacher at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Allen had a career in the arts that spanned more than 50 years.
in 1907, Frederick W. Allen presented a bas-relief to his alma mater, the first work he had cast. He studied for a year at the Rhode Island School of Design
in Providence under Manatt and Hazelton and, having determined to be a sculptor, enrolled at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where he attended Bela Lyon Pratt's modeling classes for three-and-a-half years, winning many prizes and scholarships for the excellence of his work.
. He studied and sculpted for the summer at the Académie Julian
under Paul Landowski
and the Académie Colarossi
under Paul Wayland Bartlett
. While in Paris he took the opportunity to spend time at the Luxembourg Museum where he studied Rodin
and other contemporary sculptors and spent hours sketching from the rich offerings in the galleries of the city.
and two World Wars. He supported his studio on Tavern Road a block from the museum, a colonial home for his family in Concord, Massachusetts
, a cottage on North Haven Island in Maine and a country cabin and later a home in Rumney, New Hampshire
where he retired after selling his studio in 1954. He had said he wouldn't mind if death came and tapped him on the shoulder there.
, Bela Pratt, Fred Allen, and Beatrice Van Ness and their families, friends and students, all spent many productive and happy summers in this inspiring spot. The island's natural beauty combined with the little colony's isolated location inspired their creative pursuits away from the pressures of their normal working lives.
one of three bas-reliefs to be installed on the Museum's new Evans Wing on the Fenway
façade of the building. This brought immediate attention from the leaders of the Boston art community and was the beginning of a very productive sculpting period for him between 1913 and 1920. He exhibited during that time at the Museum of Fine Arts
, the Boston Guild of Artists, of which he was a founding member, the Boston Art Club
and the St. Botolph Club and frequented the other meeting place for artists, the Tavern Club. He was also a regular exhibitor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
throughout the 1920s, was the Boston representative at an exhibit at the MOMA
in 1933 and a regular at his hometown museum, the Concord Art Association.
Allen crafted the small and popular Beaux-Arts style bronzes, medical models for Harvard using the "lost wax" process, memorial tablets, portrait busts, portrait reliefs, "imaginative" pieces, garden fountains and life and death masques, as well as large memorials and architectural installations. His best-known large work is the pediment and statues atop the Supreme Courthouse
in Manhattan. His sculptures are included in the collections of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan Museum, the Farnsworth Art Museum
in Rockland Maine, the Concord Art Association, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum
in DC. His own favorite piece, the heroic size Egyptian Head, was displayed in the New York World's Fair
in 1939.
It was the form that he turned to during the 1920s, carvings made directly from pieces of stone, mostly granite boulders from Maine
that became the works closest to his heart and those for which he wanted to be remembered. He died January 9, 1961 at his retirement home in Rumney, New Hampshire at the age of 73. His assistant Elizabeth MacLean Smith wrote, "Here his teachings will go on, through his children and his pupils. And the granite boulders which he carved shall remain witness to a true sculptor".
Boston School
The Boston School is both a historic group of painters and an ongoing tradition of painting centered around the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Beginning with artists such as Edmund C. Tarbell and William Paxton, a combination of detail, full-range vibrant color, and painting outdoors...
. One of the most prominent sculptors in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
during the early 20th century and a master teacher at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Allen had a career in the arts that spanned more than 50 years.
Early years
Allen was born May 5, 1988 in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, the son of Frank West Allen, a jewelry maker, and Esther Belcher Allen. Named after his grandfather, Frederick Deane Allen, he was fifth of six children and was expected to go into the family business. However, he was an enterprising young man and worked in the jewelry sweatshops in the summers, learning various techniques that he used later in modeling and casting sculpture instead of making jewelry.Art education
Upon his graduation from Attleboro High SchoolAttleboro High School
Attleboro High School is a public high school located in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The school is located at 100 Rathbun Williard Drive. The school has an approximate student enrollment of 1,700 students in grades 9-12. The schools mascot is the Bombardiers and the school colors are Royal Blue,...
in 1907, Frederick W. Allen presented a bas-relief to his alma mater, the first work he had cast. He studied for a year at the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
in Providence under Manatt and Hazelton and, having determined to be a sculptor, enrolled at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where he attended Bela Lyon Pratt's modeling classes for three-and-a-half years, winning many prizes and scholarships for the excellence of his work.
In Paris
Allen fell in love with the lovely Agnes H. Horner and, on the day after her graduation, they married and departed for ParisParis
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...
. He studied and sculpted for the summer at the Académie Julian
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...
under Paul Landowski
Paul Landowski
Paul Maximilien Landowski , a French monument sculptor of Polish ancestry. He was born in Paris to Polish refugees of the January Uprising, and died in Boulogne-Billancourt....
and the Académie Colarossi
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi is an art school founded by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, it moved in the 1870s to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France....
under Paul Wayland Bartlett
Paul Wayland Bartlett
Paul Wayland Bartlett was an American sculptor working in the Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Truman Howe Bartlett, an art critic and sculptor....
. While in Paris he took the opportunity to spend time at the Luxembourg Museum where he studied Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
and other contemporary sculptors and spent hours sketching from the rich offerings in the galleries of the city.
Teaching
When he returned to Boston in the fall of 1913, he began teaching at the Museum School as assistant instructor, a position Bela Pratt helped him secure. He continued teaching until his retirement in 1954, becoming the gifted head of the department in 1929. He was known affectionately by his students as "F.W." and earned the respected title of Emeritus, the first awarded by the school.Personal and family life
During the time he was sculpting and teaching, he also raised and educated a family of five children, survived the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and two World Wars. He supported his studio on Tavern Road a block from the museum, a colonial home for his family in Concord, Massachusetts
Concord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
, a cottage on North Haven Island in Maine and a country cabin and later a home in Rumney, New Hampshire
Rumney, New Hampshire
Rumney is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,480 at the 2010 census. The town is located at the southern edge of the White Mountain National Forest.-History:...
where he retired after selling his studio in 1954. He had said he wouldn't mind if death came and tapped him on the shoulder there.
Summers in North Haven, Maine
Early in his career Pratt had encouraged the Allens to buy the cottage next to his own home on the rocky shores of a protected harbor on North Haven Island overlooking the Camden Hills. They purchased the property in 1914 and became part of a colony of Boston artists now known as the Bartlett's Harbor Artists' Colony. Frank BensonFrank Weston Benson
Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolors and etchings. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the...
, Bela Pratt, Fred Allen, and Beatrice Van Ness and their families, friends and students, all spent many productive and happy summers in this inspiring spot. The island's natural beauty combined with the little colony's isolated location inspired their creative pursuits away from the pressures of their normal working lives.
Sculpture career
Bela Pratt, his mentor and friend, also provided Allen with his first major commission, to sculpt in graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
one of three bas-reliefs to be installed on the Museum's new Evans Wing on the Fenway
The Fenway
Fenway, commonly referred to as The Fenway, is a mostly one-way, one- to three-lane parkway that runs along the southern and eastern edges of the Back Bay Fens in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston...
façade of the building. This brought immediate attention from the leaders of the Boston art community and was the beginning of a very productive sculpting period for him between 1913 and 1920. He exhibited during that time at the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, the Boston Guild of Artists, of which he was a founding member, the Boston Art Club
Boston Art Club
The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, for nearly 157 years, serves as a nexus for Members and non Members to access the world of Fine Art. Currently more than 250 members maintain an active environment for the support and promotion of these works....
and the St. Botolph Club and frequented the other meeting place for artists, the Tavern Club. He was also a regular exhibitor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
throughout the 1920s, was the Boston representative at an exhibit at the MOMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
in 1933 and a regular at his hometown museum, the Concord Art Association.
Allen crafted the small and popular Beaux-Arts style bronzes, medical models for Harvard using the "lost wax" process, memorial tablets, portrait busts, portrait reliefs, "imaginative" pieces, garden fountains and life and death masques, as well as large memorials and architectural installations. His best-known large work is the pediment and statues atop the Supreme Courthouse
New York County Courthouse
The New York County Courthouse facing Foley Square in lower Manhattan in New York City houses the Civil Term and the Appellate Term of New York State Supreme Court for the state's First Judicial District, which is coextensive with Manhattan, as well as offices of the County Clerk.-Architecture:The...
in Manhattan. His sculptures are included in the collections of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan Museum, the Farnsworth Art Museum
Farnsworth Art Museum
The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine, United States, is an art museum that specializes in American art. Its permanent collection includes works by such artists as Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Thomas Eakins, Eastman Johnson, Fitz Henry Lane, Frank Benson, Childe Hassam, and Maurice...
in Rockland Maine, the Concord Art Association, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
in DC. His own favorite piece, the heroic size Egyptian Head, was displayed in the New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
in 1939.
It was the form that he turned to during the 1920s, carvings made directly from pieces of stone, mostly granite boulders from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
that became the works closest to his heart and those for which he wanted to be remembered. He died January 9, 1961 at his retirement home in Rumney, New Hampshire at the age of 73. His assistant Elizabeth MacLean Smith wrote, "Here his teachings will go on, through his children and his pupils. And the granite boulders which he carved shall remain witness to a true sculptor".
Lineage and influences
- Augustus St. Gaudens > Bela Pratt >Frederick Allen,
- Rodin > John Storrs (Allen’s friend in Boston and Paris and a student of Rodin),
- Daniel Chester FrenchDaniel Chester FrenchDaniel 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:...
(fellow townsman in Concord) - Charles Grafly who succeeded Bela Pratt at SMFA from 1917-1929 as Head of the Sculpture Department and with whom he taught before he took over the department in 1929.