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Daniel Chester French, Lincoln, 1920. Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

A Visit to Chesterwood, part 2

Daniel Chester French is best known as the sculptor of the Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. For more, see the first post in this series. In this post: a selection of French’s works displayed on the grounds of Chesterwood and in French’s studio.

Standing Lincoln

Daniel Chester French, Standing Lincoln, 1912. This cast: Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

French’s first Lincoln was created in 1912 for the State House in Lincoln, Nebraska. It bears some resemblance to Augustus Saint Gaudens’s Standing Lincoln for Chicago. On the changes in of Lincoln sculptures over time, see my post on Lincoln in Union Square, New York.

French’s Studio

French’s studio, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.
Railroad tracks beside French’s studio, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

This short set of railroad tracks runs inside the studio. To view a work in progress in changing light and from different angles, French could place it on a platform on the tracks and run it outdoors. His last sculpture, Andromeda, is still on the platform, and once in a great while is still run out into the sunlight.

Parkman Memorial

Daniel Chester French, models for the Parkman Memorial, 1906. Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

Francis Parkman, Jr. (1823-1893) made his name as one of the notable early historians of America, writing on the European colonization of North America and the Oregon Trail. For Parkman’s memorial in Boston, French proposed male and female Indians carved in high relief into blocks – an unusual technique that he also used for the Melvin Memorial, 1908. The two models for the Parkman Memorial are now on the covered porch of French’s studio. Only the male figure was used for Parkman’s memorial, which was dedicated in 1906. More here.

Doors for Boston Public Library

Plaster model of a pair of doors for Boston Public Library, 1906. Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

In 1904, French completed six enormous bronze door panels for the Boston Public Library on Copley Square. The allegorical pairs represent Knowledge and Wisdom, Truth and Romance, and Music and Poetry. I visited BPL recently, assuming I could see the finished bronze doors at any time of day or night; but they’re inside the gated entrance, inaccessible if the library is closed. Which, alas, it was. French kept the models of the doors for Knowledge and Wisdom on display in his studio.

Plaster model of a pair of doors for Boston Public Library, 1906. Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

Seated Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial

French completed the seated Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in 1920, after four years’ work. The sculpture was originally planned to be ten feet tall, but because the interior of the Memorial dwarfed it, the sculpture was scaled up to nineteen feet.

Daniel Chester French, Lincoln, 1920. Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

In the large plaster version in French’s studio, you can see the 28 pieces that were carved separately in marble. The Piccirilli Brothers did the carving from French’s model, and French added the finishing touches.

The Lincoln Memorial building was designed by Henry Bacon, the architect of French’s home and studio.

Daniel Chester French, Lincoln, 1920. Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA.

Next week: more sculptures in French’s studio.

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