Frederick William MacMonnies
Encyclopedia
Frederick William MacMonnies (September 28, 1863 – March 22, 1937) was the best known expatriate American
sculptor
of the Beaux-Arts school
, as successful and lauded in France
as he was in the United States. He was also a highly accomplished painter
and portrait
ist.
He was born in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York
and died in New York City
.
Three of MacMonnies' best-known sculptures are Nathan Hale
, Bacchante and Infant Faun, and Diana.
The life-size Nathan Hale was the first major commission gained by MacMonnies. Erected in 1890 in City Hall Park, New York
, it stands near where the actual Nathan Hale
was thought to have been executed. Copies are scattered in museum
s across the United States, since MacMonnies was one of the earliest American sculptors to supplement his fees from major commissions by selling reduced-size reproductions to the public. The Metropolitan Museum has a copy, as does the Art Museum at Princeton University
, the National Gallery of Art
, and the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
.
Bacchante and Infant Faun is MacMonnies' second best-known sculpture. The life-size nude was offered as a gift to the Boston Public Library
by the building's architect Charles Follen McKim
in 1896, to be placed in the garden court of the library. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union
caused such a public outcry citing its "drunken indecency" that the library had to refuse the gift, and McKim gave the statue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The spectacle that was made regarding this gift, a salvo in the American Culture Wars, gave MacMonnies and this sculpture a great deal of notoriety in the United States: examples of the Bacchante can be found in the permanent collections of most of the large museums in the United States and France. A reduced-size version of the sculpture, rendered in bronze, resides in a private collection in Provenance, New York. The miniature rendition , which stands 30 1/8" tall, of the work that once struggled to find a home sold for $4,800 at an auction.
A copy of the statue (illustration, left) has now taken its place in its intended original location in the Boston Public Library
. The original statue, loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
by George Robert White
in 1910 and bequeathed to the MFA in 1930 by White's sister, Mrs. Harriet J. Bradbury, is now on display in the MFA's new Arts of the Americas
Wing.
and soon promoted to studio assistant. This began a lifelong friendship with the acclaimed sculptor. MacMonnies studied at nights at the National Academy of Design
and The Art Students League of New York
. In Saint-Gaudens' studio, he met Stanford White
, who was turning to Saint-Gaudens for the prominent sculpture required for his architecture.
In 1884 MacMonnies left for Paris to study sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts
, twice winning the highest award given to foreign students. In 1888 MacMonnies opened a studio in Paris and began to create some of his most famous sculptures, which he submitted annually to the Paris Salon
. In his atelier he mentored such notable artists as Janet Scudder
and Mary Foote. He married a fellow artist, Mary Louise Fairchild
. (They were divorced in 1908, and he married his former student Alice Jones in 1910.)
, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
.
In 1889 an Honorable Mention at the Paris Salon for his Diana led to further and more public American commissions, including spandrel reliefs for Stanford White's permanent Washington Arch, New York, and the Nathan Hale
memorial in City Hall Park, dedicated in 1893. Until the outbreak of World War I
, when he gave up his grand household establishment in Paris, MacMonnies travelled annually to the United States to see dealers and patrons, returning to Paris to work on his commissions. His long-term residence at Giverny
In 1891 he was awarded the commission for the centerpiece of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago
: the sculpture of Columbia in her Grand Barge of State, in the vast central fountain of the Court of Honor, was truly the iconic figure at the heart of the American Beaux-Arts movement. This large decorative fountain piece became the focal point at the Exposition and established MacMonnies as one of the important sculptors of the time.
In 1894, Stanford White brought another prestigious and highly visible commission, for three bronze groups for the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. The complicated figural groups occupied him for the next eight years.
in 1896 MacMonnies was awarded grand prize at the Paris Exposition of 1900
. This was a decade of enormous productivity and personal satisfaction.
A second career as a painter got a good public start in 1901, when he received an honorable mention at the Paris Salon for the first painting he entered.
He was selected for the Major General George B. McClellan
statue in Washington, D.C.
, which was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1906.
.
When a medal was commissioned to celebrate Charles Lindbergh
's solo Trans-Atlantic flight in 1931, MacMonnies was the obvious choice.
Frederick William MacMonnies died of pneumonia in 1937, aged 73.
.
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...
of the Beaux-Arts school
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, as successful and lauded in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as he was in the United States. He was also a highly accomplished painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
ist.
He was born in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Heights is a culturally diverse neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Originally referred to as 'Brooklyn Village', it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. As of 2000, Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,594 people. The neighborhood is part of...
and died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Three of MacMonnies' best-known sculptures are Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale (statue)
Nathan Hale is an artistic work which was unveiled by the Sons of the American Revolution during the celebration of Evacuation Day , November 25, 1893. It originally stood at the corner of Broadway and Chambers Street in Manhattan...
, Bacchante and Infant Faun, and Diana.
Nathan Hale
New York City Hall
New York City Hall is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as...
, it stands near where the actual Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
was thought to have been executed. Copies are scattered in museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s across the United States, since MacMonnies was one of the earliest American sculptors to supplement his fees from major commissions by selling reduced-size reproductions to the public. The Metropolitan Museum has a copy, as does the Art Museum at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, and the Mead Art Museum at 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...
.
Bacchante and Infant Faun
Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to...
by the building's architect Charles Follen McKim
Charles Follen McKim
Charles Follen McKim FAIA was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partnership McKim, Mead, and White....
in 1896, to be placed in the garden court of the library. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." Originally organized on December 23, 1873, in...
caused such a public outcry citing its "drunken indecency" that the library had to refuse the gift, and McKim gave the statue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The spectacle that was made regarding this gift, a salvo in the American Culture Wars, gave MacMonnies and this sculpture a great deal of notoriety in the United States: examples of the Bacchante can be found in the permanent collections of most of the large museums in the United States and France. A reduced-size version of the sculpture, rendered in bronze, resides in a private collection in Provenance, New York. The miniature rendition , which stands 30 1/8" tall, of the work that once struggled to find a home sold for $4,800 at an auction.
A copy of the statue (illustration, left) has now taken its place in its intended original location in the Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to...
. The original statue, loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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...
by George Robert White
George Robert White
George Robert White was an American philanthropist. He was a citizen of Boston, Massachusetts for most of his life. As a boy he began working for the Weeks and Potter Drug Company. Over time White's responsibilities grew and he eventually became the president and owner of the firm. White changed...
in 1910 and bequeathed to the MFA in 1930 by White's sister, Mrs. Harriet J. Bradbury, is now on display in the MFA's new Arts of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
Wing.
Apprenticeship and education
In 1880 young MacMonnies was taken on by Augustus Saint-GaudensAugustus 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"...
and soon promoted to studio assistant. This began a lifelong friendship with the acclaimed sculptor. MacMonnies studied at nights at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
and The Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. In Saint-Gaudens' studio, he met Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
, who was turning to Saint-Gaudens for the prominent sculpture required for his architecture.
In 1884 MacMonnies left for Paris to study sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, twice winning the highest award given to foreign students. In 1888 MacMonnies opened a studio in Paris and began to create some of his most famous sculptures, which he submitted annually to the Paris 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...
. In his atelier he mentored such notable artists as Janet Scudder
Janet Scudder
Janet Scudder was an American sculptor.-Biography:Born as Netta Deweze Frazee, Scudder's childhood was marred by tragedy. Her father was a hardworking Terre Haute, Indiana confectioner who was active in community affairs. Her mother died, aged 38, on September 6, 1874...
and Mary Foote. He married a fellow artist, Mary Louise Fairchild
Mary Fairchild Low
Mary Fairchild Low was an American figure, landscape, and portrait painter, who married Frederick MacMonnies in 1888 and Will H. Low in 1909. She was born at New Haven, Conn., and studied at the St. Louis Art School , and in Paris at the Académie Julian and under Carolus Duran...
. (They were divorced in 1908, and he married his former student Alice Jones in 1910.)
Major commissions
In 1888, the intervention of Stanford White gained MacMonnies two major commissions for garden sculpture for influential Americans, a decorative Pan fountain sculpture for "Rohallion", the New Jersey mansion of banker Edward Adams, who opened for him a social circle of art-appreciating New Yorkers, and a work for ambassador Joseph H. Choate, at NaumkeagNaumkeag
Naumkeag is a 44 room, shingle-style country house located at 5 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USA in the Berkshires. It is now operated by The Trustees of Reservations as a nonprofit museum....
, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
.
In 1889 an Honorable Mention at the Paris Salon for his Diana led to further and more public American commissions, including spandrel reliefs for Stanford White's permanent Washington Arch, New York, and the Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
memorial in City Hall Park, dedicated in 1893. Until the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when he gave up his grand household establishment in Paris, MacMonnies travelled annually to the United States to see dealers and patrons, returning to Paris to work on his commissions. His long-term residence at Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
In 1891 he was awarded the commission for the centerpiece of 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...
: the sculpture of Columbia in her Grand Barge of State, in the vast central fountain of the Court of Honor, was truly the iconic figure at the heart of the American Beaux-Arts movement. This large decorative fountain piece became the focal point at the Exposition and established MacMonnies as one of the important sculptors of the time.
In 1894, Stanford White brought another prestigious and highly visible commission, for three bronze groups for the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. The complicated figural groups occupied him for the next eight years.
Honors
At the Paris Salon, he was awarded the first Gold Medal ever given to an American sculptor. Elected to the rank of Chevalier in the French Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1896 MacMonnies was awarded grand prize at the Paris Exposition of 1900
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
. This was a decade of enormous productivity and personal satisfaction.
A second career as a painter got a good public start in 1901, when he received an honorable mention at the Paris Salon for the first painting he entered.
He was selected for the Major General George B. McClellan
Major General George B. McClellan
Major General George B. McClellan is an equestrian statue in Washington, D.C., by Frederick William MacMonnies, .It is located at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue, Columbia Road, and California Street, N.W. Washington D.C....
statue in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, which was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1906.
Later career
Returning to New York after 1915, he continued his stylish career. He executed the colossal group, Civic Virtue, at the City Hall Fountains in New York (1919). It was the subject of considerable controversy because it depicts a man trampling several female figures, representing evil sirens. This resulted in criticism on the part of many observers. The statue was moved in 1941 to distant Queens Borough HallQueens Borough Hall
Queens Borough Hall is a public building in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City which houses the Office of the Queens Borough President and other city offices and court space. It is located in the Kew Gardens municipal stretch bounded by Queens Boulevard and Union...
.
The American Monument
In late 1917 MacMonnies was commissioned by a group of influential citizens of New York city, to work on a sculpture in honor of those that died in the Battle of the Marne as a gift to the French people in exchange for the Statue of Liberty. The statue, located in Meaux, France was over seven stories tall, and while work started on the statue in 1924 it was not finished until 1932 and at that time of its dedication was the world's largest stone monumentWhen a medal was commissioned to celebrate Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
's solo Trans-Atlantic flight in 1931, MacMonnies was the obvious choice.
Frederick William MacMonnies died of pneumonia in 1937, aged 73.
.
Publications
- Greer, in Brush and Pencil (Chicago, 1902)
- Lorado TaftLorado TaftLorado Zadoc Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois in 1860 and died in his home studio in Chicago in 1936.-Early years and education:...
, History of American Sculpture (New York, 1903) - Pettie, in the International Studio, volume xxix (New York, 1906)
Sources
- Conner, Janis and Joel Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture 1989. (Contains photographs of three of MacMonnies' best works, the Nathan Hale, Bacchante and Infant Faun, and Diana, along with some brief biographical information)
- Durante, Dianne, Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide (New York University Press, 2007): description of the Nathan Hale at City Hall Park, Manhattan.
- Smart, Mary , A Flight With Fame: The Life & Art of Frederick MacMonnies . Biography and a catalogue raisonné; (Sound View Press, Madison, CT, 1996)