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FREDERICK MACMONNIES, sculptor and
painter, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., September 20, 1863, the son of
William and Julinana Eudora (West) MacMonnies. His ancestors were natives
of Dumfries, Scotland. The name is an old Galloway name, also spelled
MacMunzies (pronounced (MacMunyies), and the family is credited as a sept
of Clan Menzies. His mother was a niece of the painter, Benjamin West.
Mr. MacMonnies was admitted to the
studio of Augustus Saint Gandens in 1880, where he worked for four years;
studying at night in the life classes of the National Academy of Design
and the Art Students League, New York. He completed his art education
abroad at Munich and in the atelier of Faiguiere, in the Ecole des Beaux
Arts, also in his private studio with Antonin Mercie. He received the
first prize at the National Academy of Design, 1884, and the Prix
d’Atelier, the highest prize opened to foreigners, 1886, and in 1887
established his own studio in Paris. He has resided in Paris, with the
exception of occasional visits to the United States, since that time. He
has received Honorable Mention for his first figure of Diana, Paris
Salon, 1889; Second Medal, Salon 1891, for statues of Nathan Hale
(New York), and James Samuel Thomas Stranahan (Brooklyn)
;
First Class Gold Medal, Antwerp, 1894; Grand Prize of
Honor, Paris Exposition, 1900; also First Medals at expositions at
Atlanta, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Boston: for painting, Honourable
Mention, Paris Salon, 1902; Third Medal, 1904. He was decor- ated
Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the French Government, 1896;
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria, Munich, 1897; and is a
member of the National Academy, 1906, American Academy, 1915, National
Institute of Arts and Letters, National Sculpture Society, Architectural
League, and many clubs and organizations.
Since the death of Saint Gaudens,
Mr. MacMonnies ranks as America ‘s first living sculptor. His reputation
abroad is equal to or even greater than that acknowledged him at home. His
conceptions are always delicate and refined. MacMonnies’ principal works
are: three life size bronze angels at St. Paul’s Church, New York, 1899;
Nathan Hale, City Hall Park, New York, 1891; James Samuel Thomas
Stranahan, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 1891; Pau of Rohallion,
1890; Faun with Heron, 1892; Sir Henry Vane, Boston Public
Library, 1893; Colossal Fountain, World’s Columbian Exposition,
Chicago, 1893; Bacchante with Infant Faun, Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, and Luxembourg Gallery, Paris, 1894; two pediments Bow-cry
Bank, New York, 1894; four spandrils Washington Arch, New York, 1894;
Venus and Adonis, 1895;. Cupid, 1895; figure of Victory
for bronze doors and statue of Shakespeare, Congressional Library,
Washington, D. C., 1898; Army and Navy groups and bronze quadriga for
Soldiers and Sailors Arch, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 1900; two groups of
horses, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 1900; equestrian statue of General
Slocum, Brooklyn, 1900; equestrian statuette of Theodore Roosevelt,
1905; equestrian statue of General G.
B. McClellan,
Washington, 1906; two fountains, Knickerbocker Hotel,
New York, 1906; Pioneer Monument, Denver; marble portrait group for
George J. Gould, Esq., 1906; bronze group, Fax Victrix,
1906; statues of Inspiration and Philosophy, New York Public
Library, 1915. In recent years he has devoted himself chiefly to painting,
in which he has achieved marked success.
Mr. MacMonnies married in Paris,
September 30, 1888, Mary Fairchild. He married in Lucerne, Switzerland,
March 23, 1910, Miss Alice Jones, daughter of John P. Jones. He has two
daughters. |
