Search just our sites by using our customised search engine

Unique Cottages | Electric Scotland's Classified Directory

Click here to get a Printer Friendly PageSmiley

Mini Biographies of Scots and Scots Descendants (F)
Fraser, James Earl


James Earl Fraser died on October 11, 1953, at the age of 76 at Westport, Connecticut. Born in Winona, Minnesota and raised on the plains of the West, he had become one of America’s most noted sculptors.

At the age of eight, James Earl started carving things out of stone from a nearby quarry. His father wanted him to be an engineer, but he received such praise from railroad officials about his art that his father finally relented. At the age of 15, James Earl was sent to study at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Before he was 17, a model of one of his most celebrated works was completed. His “End of The Trail” statue showing a weary Indian slumped down over his rack-ribbed horse had been copied around the world. It is often regarded as the best-known sculpture in America.

In 1895, James Earl Fraser won a scholarship to study in Paris. It was here that he attracted the attention of Augustus St. Gaudens, with whom he immediately began to work.

On the north pylons of the Michigan Avenue bridge across the Chicago river is the large limestone depiction of The Pioneers and Discoverers by Fraser. Other works include the statue of Theodore Roosevelt as a Rough Rider in front of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. His statue of Alexander Hamilton, for the Department of the Treasury in Washington is regarded as one of the best works of those practicing in the Saint-Gaudens tradition.

In 1913, James Earl Fraser designed the Indian head and buffalo nickel.

Learn more about him here!


Return to F Index
Return to Mini Bios Index


 


This comment system requires you to be logged in through either a Disqus account or an account you already have with Google, Twitter, Facebook or Yahoo. In the event you don't have an account with any of these companies then you can create an account with Disqus. All comments are moderated so they won't display until the moderator has approved your comment.

comments powered by Disqus

Quantcast