Adolph Alexander Weinman (December 11, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was a

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor.

Early life and education

Adolph Alexander Weinman by Anthony de Francisci

Adolph Alexander Weinman was born December 11, 1870 at

Durmersheim Durmersheim is a small town in the district of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Southwest Germany and has a population of 12,112 (2020). Durmersheim is situated between Karlsruhe and Rastatt, in the valley of the river Rhine near the border to Fra ...

, near

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 14. At the age of 15, he attended evening classes at Cooper Union and later studied at the Art Students League of New York with sculptors

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trav ...

and

Philip Martiny Philip H. Martiny (May 19, 1858 – June 26, 1927) was a French-American sculptor who worked in the Paris atelier of Eugene Dock, where he became foreman before emigrating to New York in 1878—to avoid conscription in the French army, he later ...

Career

He worked as an assistant to the sculptors

Charles Niehaus Charles Henry Niehaus (January 24, 1855 — June 19, 1935), was an American sculptor. Education Niehaus was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German parents. He began working as a marble and wood carver, and then gained entrance to the McMicken ...

, Olin Warner, and Daniel Chester French before opening his own studio in 1904. Although Weinman is now best remembered as a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

ist, he considered himself to be an architectural sculptor. His steadiest income was derived from the sale of small bronze reproductions of his larger works, such as ''Descending Night'', originally commissioned for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915. Weinman was a member of the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

and served as its president from 1927 to 1930. His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1933. He was also a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

, the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

, the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

, and the New York City Art Commission, among other organizations.

Death

Weinman died in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most popu ...

, on August 8, 1952. Following a mass at

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's St. Patrick's Cathedral, he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Weinman's papers are at the Smithsonian

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

. His son Robert Weinman was also a sculptor. His son Howard Weinman designed the Long Island Tercentenary half dollar commemorative coin.

Works

Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC 2012

Despite his objections, Weinman is still best remembered as the designer of the

Walking Liberty Half Dollar The Walking Liberty half dollar is a silver 50-cent piece or half dollar coin that was issued by the United States Mint from 1916 to 1947; it was designed by Adolph A. Weinman, a well-known sculptor and engraver. In 1915, the new Mint Director, ...

, a design now used for the obverse of the

American Silver Eagle The American Silver Eagle is the official silver bullion coin of the United States. It was first released by the United States Mint on November 24, 1986. It is struck only in the one- troy ounce, which has a nominal face value of one dollar ...

one-ounce bullion coin, and the "Mercury" dime along with various medals for the Armed Services of the United States. Among these are the identical reverses of the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...

. Weinman was one of many sculptors and artists who employed Audrey Munson as a model. Weinman's work as an architectural sculptor can be found on the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

state capitols. He became the sculptor of choice for the architecture firm

McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), W ...

and designed sculpture for their

Manhattan Municipal Building The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building (originally the Municipal Building and later known as the Manhattan Municipal Building) is a 40-story, building at 1 Centre Street, east of Chambers Street, in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhat ...

, Madison Square Presbyterian Church (completed 1906 and demolished 1919),

Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument The Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument is a war memorial at Fort Greene Park, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It commemorates more than 11,500 American prisoners of war who died in captivity aboard sixteen British prison ships during th ...

, and Pennsylvania Railroad Station (completed 1910 and demolished 1963), all in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. A photograph of one of his angels, ''Day'', in a landfill in New Jersey is one of the saddest reminders of the destruction of Penn Station in 1963, but two of his eagles were retained as trophies outside the entrance to the new subterranean

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

. Elsewhere he created the dramatic frieze on the Elks National Veterans Memorial in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and executed sculpture for the Post Office Department Building, the

Jefferson Memorial The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the A ...

, and the interior of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, all in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Weinman's non-architectural works include the Macomb and the Maybury monuments in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. Another example of his non-architectural work is his Abraham Lincoln Statue (Kentucky) located in the center of

Hodgenville, Kentucky Hodgenville is a home rule-class city in LaRue County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Hodgenville sits along the North Fork of the Nolin River. The population was 3,206 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Elizabet ...

. Weinman was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949. Weinman's works are mostly executed in a lyrical

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

. His figures typically wear classical drapery, but there is a fluidity found in his work that is a harbinger of the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style that was to follow him. His bronze statuette ''The Nude Golfer'' epitomizes this style. This work evokes classical sculpture in its attention to anatomy and movement and the nude status of the athlete while the subject, a modern

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er, provides a modern twist. Weinman also taught; among his pupils was Eleanor Mary Mellon.

Selected works

Sculpture

*'' General Alexander Macomb'' (1906–1908), Detroit, Michigan. *'' Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument'' (1909),

Wyman Park The community of Wyman Park is a border community that links Hampden, Baltimore, Hampden to Roland Park. All of the Wyman Park areas were annexed to Baltimore City in 1888. The general boundaries consist of the area from south to north between 33rd ...

, Baltimore, Maryland. *''

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

'' (1909), Hodgenville, Kentucky. A replica of this is at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. *'' Alexander Johnston Cassatt'', (1910),

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

, New York City. *''

'' (1911), Kentucky State Capitol, Frankfort, Kentucky. *William Cotter Maybury Memorial (1912), Grand Circus Park, Detroit, Michigan. *''Rising Sun'' (1914–15), Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California. *''Descending Night'' (1914–15) (model, Audrey Munson), Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California. *''Samuel Rea'' (1926),

, New York City. *'' Fountain of the Centaurs'' (ca. 1926), Missouri State Capitol, Jefferson City, Missouri. *Pair of ''Lions'' (1929–30),

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, Baltimore, Maryland. *''Dewitt Clinton'' (1941) and ''Alexander Hamilton'' (1941),

Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

, New York City. *''Riders of the Dawn'' (ca. 1942),

Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails throu ...

, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina. File:Macomb statue in detroit.jpg, '' General Alexander Macomb'' (1906–1908),

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

File:Baltimore Soldiers Sailors.jpg, '' Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument'' (1909),

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

File:Lincoln Heritage Scenic Highway - Adolph Weinman's Abraham Lincoln Statue - NARA - 7720071 (cropped).jpg, ''

'' (1909)

File:Alexander Cassatt statue by Weinman at RMP.jpg, '' Alexander Johnston Cassatt'' (1910),

New York City File:Statue of William C. Maybury.jpg, William Cotter Maybury Memorial (1912), Grand Circus Park,
Detroit, Michigan File:Civic Fame.jpg, ''Civic Fame'' (1913), atop

,
New York City File:DescendingNightAAW.jpg, ''Descending Night'' (1914–15), Panama-Pacific International Exposition,
San Francisco File:Samuel Rea Pennsta jeh.jpg, ''Samuel Rea'' (1926),

,
New York City. File:Missouri State Capitol and Fountain of the Centaurs-20150920-157.jpg, '' Fountain of the Centaurs'' (ca. 1926), Missouri State Capitol,
Jefferson City, Missouri File:Urchin_Fountain_of_the_centaurs,_AA_Weinman,_sculptor.jpg, '' Fountain of the Centaurs'', detail (ca. 1926), Missouri State Capitol,
Jefferson City, Missouri File:Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture12.jpg, ''Riders of the Dawn'' (ca. 1942),

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 census. It is about 13 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and 21 miles north ...

File:Adolph Weinman eagle.JPG, One of the four Adolf Weinman eagles of the

File:Eagle by Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument.jpg, One of four bronze eagle sculptures surrounding the

in the

Fort Greene Historic District Fort Greene Historic District is a national historic district in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York, New York. It consists of 1,158 contributing buildings, two contributing sites, one contributing object, and two contributing structures. It is ...

Architectural sculpture

*Architectural sculpture (1903–04),

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), ...

, architects, (demolished 1964). Salvaged pieces of statuary survive in multiple locations. *Architectural sculpture (1904–1906), Madison Square Presbyterian Church, New York City,

, architects, (demolished 1919). *Architectural sculpture (1908),

Fort Greene Park Fort Greene Park is a city-owned and -operated park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City. The park was originally named after the fort formerly located there, Fort Putnam, which itself was named for Rufus Putnam, George Washington's Chief ...

, Brooklyn, New York City,

, architects. *Masonic Sphinxes: ''Power'' and ''Wisdom'' (1911–1915),

House of the Temple The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. (officially, Home of The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted S ...

, Washington, D.C.,

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeff ...

, architect. *Architectural sculpture (1913–1915),

, New York City,

, architects. *Bronze doors (1921–1923),

administration building, West 155th Street, Audubon Terrace, Manhattan, New York City. *Architectural sculpture (1924–1926), Elks National Veterans Memorial, Chicago, Illinois. *Architectural sculpture: South Pediment (ca. 1926), Missouri State Capitol, Jefferson City, Missouri. *Architectural sculpture: ''Destiny'' Pediment (1935),

National Archives Building The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, ...

, Washington, D.C. *''Drafting the Declaration of Independence'' (1939–1943), pedimental sculpture honoring the

Committee of Five '' The Committee of Five of the Second Continental Congress was a group of five members who drafted and presented to the full Congress in Pennsylvania State House what would become the United States Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. Thi ...

on the

, Washington, D.C. File:NYP LOC4.jpg,

, New York City (1903–04, demolished 1964) File:Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain Kansas City MO.jpg, Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain (1968), Kansas City, Missouri. Salvaged pieces from

File:Eagle Statue - National Zoo - Washington, DC.jpg, ''Eagle'', National Zoo, Washington, D.C. Salvaged from

,
New York City File:Adolph Weinman eagle.JPG, ''Eagle'' (1908), one of four that decorated the

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

File:Weinman-Sphinx-WashingtonDC.jpg, ''Wisdom'' Sphinx (1911–1915),

File:Audubon Terrace American Academy of Arts and Letters West 155th Street entrance detail 2.jpg, Detail, bronze doors,

West 155th Street entrance, (1921–1923)
New York City File:Weinman in Davenport.jpg,

Spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

figure (1923), First National Bank Building,
Davenport, Iowa File:Elks memorial Chicago.jpg, ''The Glory of Peace'' Frieze (1924–1926), Elks National Veterans Memorial,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

File:Destiny (pediment).JPG, ''Destiny'' Pediment (1935),

,
Washington, D.C. File:Jefferson Memorial DC.jpg, ''Drafting the Declaration of Independence'' Pediment (1939–1943),

,
Washington, D.C.

U.S. coins and medals

Mercury dime The Mercury dime is a ten-cent coin struck by the United States Mint from late 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman and also referred to as the Winged Liberty Head dime, it gained its common name because the obverse depiction of a young Li ...

(1916–1945). More than two billion Mercury dimes were minted before it was replaced by the Roosevelt dime in 1946.Lange, David W. ''A Complete Guide Book to Mercury Dimes'' (Virginia Beach, Va.: DLRC Press, 1993). . The design is now used as the obverse of the American Palladium Eagle coin, which has been produced since 2017. *

Walking Liberty half dollar The Walking Liberty half dollar is a silver 50-cent piece or half dollar coin that was issued by the United States Mint from 1916 to 1947; it was designed by Adolph A. Weinman, a well-known sculptor and engraver. In 1915, the new Mint Director, ...

(1916–1947). Replaced by the

Franklin half dollar The Franklin half dollar is a coin that was struck by the United States Mint from 1948 to 1963. The fifty-cent piece pictures Founding Father Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse. A small eagle was placed to the ...

(1948). Weinman's carving is now used as the obverse of the

coin, which has been produced since 1986. * J. Sanford Saltus Medal Award – awarded by the

American Numismatic Society The American Numismatic Society (ANS) is a New York City-based organization dedicated to the study of coins, money, medals, tokens, and related objects. Founded in 1858, it is the only American museum devoted exclusively to their preservati ...

. Weinman was the second recipient of this medal.

References

Notes Bibliography * Kvaran and Lockley, ''A Guide to the Architectural Sculpture of America'', unpublished manuscript

External links

*
Adolph A. Weinman Papers at the Smithsonian Archives of American ArtA.A. Weinman (1870-1952) at the R. W. Norton Art Gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinman, Adolph Alexander 1870 births 1952 deaths Artists from Karlsruhe German emigrants to the United States American architectural sculptors American male sculptors Art Students League of New York alumni 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists National Sculpture Society members Sculptors from New York (state) American currency designers Coin designers Olympic competitors in art competitions