Paul Wayland Bartlett (January 24, 1865 – September 20, 1925) was an American
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
working in the
Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism.
Life
Bartlett was born in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
, the son of
Truman Howe Bartlett, an art critic and sculptor.
At fifteen he began to study in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
under
Emmanuel Frémiet
Emmanuel Frémiet (6 December 182410 September 1910) was a French sculptor. He is famous for his 1874 sculpture of Joan of Arc in Paris (and its "sister" statues in Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon) and the monument to Ferdinand de Lesseps in S ...
, modelling from animals in the
Jardin des Plantes. He won a medal at the
Paris Salon of 1887, and was elected as a member of the jury for the
Paris ''Exposition Universelle'' of 1889 and again at the
''Exposition'' of 1900, each time sacrificing his own opportunities of receiving medals. He was twenty-nine when the Cross of a Chevalier of the
Legion of Honor was bestowed upon him. In 1903, he collaborated with the dean of American sculptors,
John Quincy Adams Ward
John Quincy Adams Ward (June 29, 1830 – May 1, 1910) was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.
Early ye ...
, on the models for the pediment sculptures of the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
; the pediment figures were carved by the
Piccirilli Brothers.
Bartlett's masterwork was the House of Representatives pediment at the
U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...
building, ''
The Apotheosis of Democracy'', begun in 1908 and completed in 1916. Among his other principal works are ''Bohemian Bear Tamer,'' in 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 ...
, New York; the equestrian statue of
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
, in the Cours Albert 1er, Paris, presented to the
French Republic by the schoolchildren of America; the powerful and virile bronzes ''Columbus and ''Michelangelo'' inside the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
; the ''Ghost Dancer'', in the
Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia; the ''Dying Lion''; the equestrian statue of
McClellan in Philadelphia; and a statue of
Joseph Warren
Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot movement in Boston during the early days of the American Revolution, ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts. His bronze
patinas of reptiles, insects and fish, several of which are in the collection of the
Berkshire Museum
__NOTOC__
The Berkshire Museum is a museum of art, natural history, and ancient civilization that is located in Pittsfield in Berkshire County, Massachusetts ( United States).
History
The Berkshire Museum, founded by local paper magnate Zenas C ...
, are also remarkable.
In 1895, he was named a Chevalier of the French
Legion of Honor. In 1916 he was admitted to 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 ...
. He was also 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 the
International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers
The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers was a union of professional artists that existed from 1898 to 1925, "To promote the study, practice, and knowledge of sculpture, painting, etching, lithographing, engraving, and kindred ...
.
In the mid-20th century, Bartlett’s step-daughter, Caroline Ogden-Jones Peter worked to ensure that examples of Bartlett’s sculpture were distributed to museums throughout the United States. Additional examples of his sculpture, including many plaster studies as well as his personal papers are found at
Tudor Place
Tudor Place is a Federal-style mansion in Washington, D.C. that was originally the home of Thomas Peter and his wife, Martha Parke Custis Peter, a granddaughter of Martha Washington. The property, comprising one city block on the crest of Geo ...
, Caroline's former home with husband, Armistead Peter 3rd;
[The Washington Post, December 11, 1983] a historic house museum open to the public since 1988.
A retrospective exhibition was held after his death, '' Paul Wayland Bartlett (1865—1925): sculptures'', Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1929.
File:Warren RLS.JPG, ''Joseph Warren'', Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury se ...
File:Sir William Blackstone by Paul Wayland Bartlett (1920) Control IAS DC000191.jpg, ''Sir William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the '' Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...
'' 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, ...
File:Statue of Robert Morris (by Paul Wayland Bartlett) Independence National Historical Park.jpg, '' Robert Morris'' in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
File:Lafayette Statue in Hartford, Connecticut front.jpg, Statue of Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
in Hartford, Connecticut (1957)
See also
* ''
Eternal Light Flagstaff''
References
;Attribution
*
External links
Paul Wayland Bartlett papers, 1887-1925from 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 ...
Suzanne Bartlett papers relating to Paul W. Bartlett, (ca. 1883-1950s)from the Archives of American Art
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Paul Wayland
1865 births
1925 deaths
American expatriates in France
Artists from New Haven, Connecticut
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American male artists
19th-century American sculptors
19th-century American male artists
American male sculptors
Sculptors from Connecticut
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters