Frances Taft Grimes (25 January 1869 – 9 November 1963) was an American sculptor, best remembered for her bas-relief portraits and busts.

Biography

Grimes was born in

Braceville, Ohio Braceville Township is one of the twenty-four townships of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 2,467 people in the township. History Braceville Township was established in the 1810s, and named after Jonathan Brace, a la ...

, the daughter of two physicians, and grew up in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

. After attending local schools, she operated a sculpture studio in Decatur for about two years, before moving to Brooklyn, New York City to study at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

."Sculptor Dies: Frances Grimes — the name has meaning to long-timers," ''The Decatur Daily Review'' (Decatur, Illinois), November 17, 1963, p. 13. Following graduation from Pratt, she worked from 1894 to 1900 as the assistant to her former teacher, sculptor Herbert Adams, who called her "the best marble-cutter in America".Lucia Fairchild Fuller
"Frances Grimes: A Sculptor in Whose Works One Reads Delicacy,"
''Arts & Decoration'', New York, N.Y.: Artspur Publications, Inc. vol. 14, no. 1 (November 1920), pp. 34, 74. During the summers, she joined Adams and his wife,

Adeline Adeline may refer to: People *Adeline (given name) *Yves-Marie Adeline (born 1960), French Catholic writer Places *Adeline, Illinois, village in Maryland Township, Ogle County, Illinois, US Arts and entertainment *Adeline Records, recording lab ...

, at the Cornish, New Hampshire art colony. It was there that she met sculptor

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 trave ...

, who persuaded her to join him as his full-time studio assistant. Grimes worked with the terminally-ill Saint Gaudens from 1900 to his death in 1907. She stayed on at Saint Gauden's studio to finish several of his commissions, including the ''Phillips Brooks Memorial'' at Trinity Church in Boston, Massachusetts (dedicated 1910); and eight larger-than-life

caryatids A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

for the

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

in Buffalo, New York, which she executed from his sketch models. She recorded her experiences at Cornish in her unpublished "Reminiscences" (Special Collections, Dartmouth College Library). Following six months in France, Italy and Greece, she moved to New York City in 1908, taking a studio on

Macdougal Alley MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Betw ...

in Greenwich Village. A strong advocate of voting rights for women, Grimes served as marshal of the Sculptors division in the 25,000-woman October 23, 1915 Women's Suffrage Parade in New York City.

''Sleepy Hollow'' panel

Washington Irving High School lobby detail 1

Grimes had a major success with her bas-relief panel ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (1915). Designed as an overmantel for the lobby of the all-girls Washington Irving High School in New York City, it features three life-sized female seated figures reading Irving's classic story. Critic Adeline Adams saluted the work in the magazine ''Art and Progress'':

"For me, this relief remains a most satisfying example of modern American sculpture. It delights because of the fitness of the theme and treatment to the purpose specified, the architectural strength of the design, the dignity, delicacy and sureness of the modeling, the harmonious rhythms of the figures and draperies; in short, because of its general state of grace as a modern classic."

''Girls Singing'' panels

In 1916, Joseph Parsons commissioned Grimes to create two bas-relief panels to flank a fountain at his country house in

Lakeville, Connecticut Lakeville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, close to Dutchess County, New York. It is within the town of Salisbury, but has its own ZIP Code (06039). As of the 2010 census, the population of Lak ...

. Each panel featured a nude seated young woman, one holding a dogwood branch and the other holding a Chinese lute, who share a joyful over-the-shoulder glance. The reliefs were completed in plaster in 1917, and carved in marble by Amadeo Merli and Alexandro Nicolai. In December 1917, the panels were part of the "Allies for Sculpture" exhibition at New York's

Ritz-Carlton Hotel The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

, the proceeds of which went toward aiding World War I refugees and prisoners of war.

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...

saw the panels, and asked Grimes to lend them for a 1918 exhibition of contemporary sculpture at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. The marble panels remained on loan to MMA until 1944, when Parsons donated them to the museum.

Exhibitions, honors and awards

Grimes worked in bronze and marble. She exhibited at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.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 ...

in 1912, and a member emeritus in 1961. She was elected an Associate member of 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 fin ...

in 1931, and a full Academician in 1945. She was also a member of

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

and of the

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 w ...

. She was awarded a Silver Medal for numismatic design at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. She received the 1916 McMillan Sculpture Prize from the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

. She was awarded the 1920 National Association Medal of Sculpture from the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. Grimes died at age 94 in New York City in November 1963. The following summer, a memorial exhibition of her sculpture was held at

Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. This was his summer residence from 1885 to 1897, his perma ...

in Cornish, New Hampshire.

Selected works

* Relief portrait: ''Arthur Whiting'' (bronze, 1907), Music Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

, Lincoln Center, New York City. * Bust: ''Bishop Henry C. Potter'' (marble, 1911), Grace Episcopal Church, New York City. * ''Boy with Duck'' (bronze, 1912),

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

, Toledo, Ohio. Other casts are at the Strong Museum in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, and elsewhere. * ''Girl by Pool'' (bronze, 1913), Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. A larger version in marble is at

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 thro ...

in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. * Relief portrait: ''General

Jacob D. Cox Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900), was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and recognized microbiologist ...

Memorial Tablet'' (bronze, 1915), Administration Building,

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

, Oberlin, Ohio, collaboration with muralist

Kenyon Cox Kenyon Cox (October 27, 1856 – March 17, 1919) was an American Painting, painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of t ...

(Gen. Cox's son). * Relief panel: ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (plaster, 1915), Washington Irving High School, New York City. * Relief panels: ''Girls Singing'' (marble, 1916–17),

, New York City. * Relief portrait: ''Charles Otis Whitman Memorial Tablet'' (1918),

Marine Biological Laboratory The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...

, Woods Hole, Massachusetts * Relief portrait: ''Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Pearsons'' (1919),

Decatur Memorial Hospital Decatur Memorial Hospital (DMH), is a Decatur, Illinois affiliate of Memorial Medical Center (Springfield, Illinois) and is a 300-bed, not-for-profit, community hospital founded in 1916. DMH has more than 2,300 employees and 300 physicians. It i ...

, Decatur, Illinois. * Relief portrait: ''Dr. William Barnes'', (1919), Decatur Memorial Hospital, Decatur, Illinois. * Bust: ''Charlotte Cushman'' (bronze, 1925),

Hall of Fame for Great Americans The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It is the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the Uni ...

, Bronx, New York City. * Bust: ''Emma Willard'' (bronze, 1929),

, Bronx, New York City. * ''

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapte ...

National Achievement Medal'' (gold, 1930). Grimes designed the sorority's gold medal – awarded 1930 to 1958 – and was the first recipient of it.Lyn Harris
"Chi Omega's National Achievement Award 1930-58"
from Fraternity & Sorority History. * Relief portrait: ''Lt. General Nelson A. Miles Memorial Tablet'' (1931),

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the cap ...

, Washington, D.C.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes, Frances People from Trumbull County, Ohio 1869 births 1963 deaths Pratt Institute alumni Sculptors from Ohio 20th-century American sculptors 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American women artists National Sculpture Society members 20th-century American women sculptors 19th-century American women sculptors