Statues of Abraham LincolnLincoln Memorial . erealways there, was no easy job for itscreators, Daniel French and Henry Bacon 54 In November of 1918, Sculptor Daniel Chester Frenchremarked to a longtime intimate, I have lived withLincoln so long that I feel as if he were a personalfriend. The feeling was natural although it could notbe mutual: back in 1909, French had been appointedsculptor for a statue of Abraham Lincoln for Nebras-kas state capitol grounds, where his standing Lincolnwas unveiled in 1912. Now the 68-year-old sculptor was nearing the end ofanother four years with Lincoln, creat
Statues of Abraham LincolnLincoln Memorial . erealways there, was no easy job for itscreators, Daniel French and Henry Bacon 54 In November of 1918, Sculptor Daniel Chester Frenchremarked to a longtime intimate, I have lived withLincoln so long that I feel as if he were a personalfriend. The feeling was natural although it could notbe mutual: back in 1909, French had been appointedsculptor for a statue of Abraham Lincoln for Nebras-kas state capitol grounds, where his standing Lincolnwas unveiled in 1912. Now the 68-year-old sculptor was nearing the end ofanother four years with Lincoln, creating the statuethat would be the focal point of Architect HenryBacons impressive, templelike memorial structure atthe west end of the Mall in Washington, The completed Memorial, statue in place, was dedi-cated with tens of thousands in attendance on May 30,1922. In the last 18 years, when the National ParkService has kept a count, nearly 60 million visitorshave climbed the Memorials marble steps. v\K> 7n frtL>r<Ac*A<A_ 111 7. WS: Still headless, Lincoln statue is assembled in theMemorial in 1920. Figure before pedestal probably is one of the Piccirilli brothers, whocarved all of Frenchs marbles from 1900 on. 55 Laboring on Lincoln statue Even though French, as a child, may have seen Lin-coln alive, how did he create such a superb evocation?How did he know how much to bow the head, how toplace the hands? How had he prepared himself forthis crowning achievement of his life? Through an exhibition opening this month at theSmithsonians National Collection of Fine Arts, wehave a unique view of Daniel Chester French, anAmerican Sculptor. The retrospective show organ-ized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation,with grants from the National Endowment for theHumanities and the National Endowment for theArts, includes 55 of Frenchs sculptures from smallstudies in plaster to bigger-than-life bronzes, as wellas architectural drawings and photographs. It opens Februa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidstatuxxxxxxf, bookyear1922
