Daniel Chester French

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Daniel Chester French, around 1902
Daniel Chester French's autograph

Daniel Chester French (born April 20, 1850 in Exeter , New Hampshire , † October 7, 1931 in Stockbridge , Massachusetts ) was an American sculptor who created the famous Lincoln statue in Washington, DC . He is considered one of the most important sculptors of the 19th and 20th centuries. His work can be seen in parks, universities, government buildings, monuments and museums.

Life

Daniel Chester was the son of Henry Flagg French, a lawyer and assistant in the Treasury Department . He discovered his artistic talent early on, and the writer Louisa May Alcott encouraged him to become a sculptor. French studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge . While visiting relatives in Brooklyn , he met the sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward and worked on commission in his workshop for a month . In 1873, French received an order from the city of Concords to create a statue to mark the centenary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord . The Minute Man statue was ceremoniously unveiled on April 19, 1875. He then went to Italy for a year to hone his skills at Thomas Ball in Florence . Shortly after his return to the United States, he went to France to study at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris . He then lived near Florence for a few years.

In 1917 the Pulitzer Prize for Excellence in Journalism was first awarded in the United States and Daniel Chester French was commissioned to design the gold medal. French was one of many sculptors who frequently employed model Audrey Munson .

Daniel Chester French died in Stockbridge on October 7, 1931 and was buried in Concords Cemetery. His summer house Chesterwood, designed by the architect and friend Henry Bacon , in Stockbridge is now a museum .

Honors and offices

literature

Web links

Commons : Daniel Chester French  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME French, Daniel Chester
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Exeter, New Hampshire
DATE OF DEATH October 7, 1931
Place of death Stockbridge, Massachusetts