Sally James Farnham was an American sculptor born
Ogdensburg, New York
Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and de ...
, on November 26, 1869, into a prominent local family.
Early life
![Defenders of the Flag - Signature of Sally James Farnham - Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Defenders_of_the_Flag_-_Signature_of_Sally_James_Farnham_-_Mount_Hope_Cemetery_%28Rochester%29.jpg)
Born in Ogdensburg, New York November 26, 1869, Sarah “Sally” Welles James raised in a wealthy household surrounded by military and political figures. Her paternal grandfather,
Amaziah Bailey James
Amaziah Bailey James (July 1, 1812 in Stephentown, Rensselaer County, New York – July 6, 1883 in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Life
His family removed to Sweden, New York in ...
, served as a Congressman from 1877 to 1881, and her father, Colonel Edward C. James, was a Civil War veteran and a noted trial lawyer in New York City.
When James was 10 years old her mother died. Soon after she traveled the world with her father, who often encouraged her to do various activities that were atypical for young women in the period, such as hunting and horsemanship. Her familiarity with these activities later proved useful in her sculpting career.
Education and influences
Her art education began when she was exposed to art as a child while touring the museums of Europe with her family. Their travels would acquaint her with western culture in countries such as
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, as well as with eastern traditions in Japan. At this time she had not discovered her artistic creativity outside of childish drawings and paper-cutout silhouettes. Though she didn't realize it, her exposure to culture made her sensitive toward the artistic sensibilities she would develop in the future. As she later recalled, those days "were loaded with opportunities to study, to absorb unconsciously the great things in line and form of every nation. In fact this was my real schooling. I was heading for sculpture then, though I didn't know it."
In 1896 she married George Paulding Farnham, a designer at
Tiffany & Co
Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...
. with whom she had three children. Throughout her life,she maintained an energetic social life (which included Hollywood friends like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford) on top of her domestic duties. She began modeling in 1901 while confined to a hospital bed, having been given plasticine clay to amuse herself with. The finished piece, “Spanish Dancer,” was the spark in igniting her passion for sculpture.
She later described the experience: “It was as if in some mysterious previous state of existence I had actually been a sculptor and the memory of it was beginning to leak back into my fingers and thumbs.”
A family friend,
Frederic Remington
Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United State ...
— who called one of Sally's early works "ugly as sin" yet "full of ginger”
—advised her to continue applying herself to the study of sculpture, which she did with the aid of several well-known sculptors,
Henry Merwin Shrady
Henry Merwin Shrady (October 12, 1871 – April 12, 1922) was an American sculptor, best known for the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial on the west front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Background
Shrady was born in New York City. His ...
,
Augustus Lukeman
Henry Augustus Lukeman (January 28, 1872 – April 3, 1935) was an American sculptor, specializing in historical monuments. Noted among his works are the World War I monument in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, the Kit Carson Monument in Trinidad, Col ...
and
Frederick Roth
Frederick George Richard Roth (1872 – 1944) often referred to as F.G.R. Roth, was an American sculptor and animalier, well known for portraying living animals. The statue of the sled dog Balto in New York City's Central Park is perhaps his mos ...
.
Her husband was her main supporter and influence at the start of her sculpting education. But Farnham's success as a sculptor would slowly chip away at their marriage. In 1914 she and Paulding were divorced, leaving Sally as the sole provider for her children.
Career in sculpture
The ensuing years saw Farnham produce a series of United States Civil War and cemetery monuments in New York and New Jersey . She received many small grants and commissions that would build her reputation as a sculptor over a very short period of time. In 1904 she won a commission to construct Spirit of Liberty, which she made in honor of her father and the men who gave their lives in the Civil War. By 1907, she was regarded as “one of the leading female sculptors working on a heroic scale in America”
![Defenders of the Flag - Sally James Farnham - Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester) 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Defenders_of_the_Flag_-_Sally_James_Farnham_-_Mount_Hope_Cemetery_%28Rochester%29_02.jpg)
In 1910, she was commissioned to create a frieze for the Pan American Union building in Washington D.C. This work, called the Frieze of Discoverers, contributed to her winning a commission from the government of Venezuela to execute the equestrian Simon Bolivar (1921). Originally cast in duplicate, one copy stands at the head of the Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Despite the complications of her divorce two years earlier, in 1916, Sally competed against twenty other sculptors to win this highly prized commission.
At the time it was both the largest monument sculpted by a woman and the only equestrian monument of a man created by a female artist. It took five years to complete and earned her the Order of Bolivar (the greatest civilian honor given by the Venezuelan government).
In the following decade Farnham produced a multitude of public monuments and memorials, as well as critically acclaimed portraits of influential individuals including the President of the United States
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
,
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
,
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and
Marshal Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...
(commander of the Allied Powers in WWI). Her work in portraiture soon became highly sought after and was defined by a highly developed naturalistic style that captured the essence of the subject in a visually masculine and positive manner. Farnham also sculpted busts of notable figures, including violinist
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...
and silent film star
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
, and continued to create sculpture into her seventies.
![Sculptured head of President Warren G](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Sculptured_head_of_President_Warren_G._Harding%2C_by_Sally_James_Farnham_1921.png)
Her next important monument, Like Hell You Can! (1927) embodied her optimistic spirit in the form of a soldier standing tall, in confrontation with the unknown.
In 1929, she entered into a contract with
R.H. Macy and Co. (along with McMein and Fontanne) to create a line of shoes for women.
Of all the monuments she created, Farnham regarded Pay Day (1930) as her best work. The sculpture of four cowboys on horseback, flailing their lassos and kicking up dirt was made in honor of her mentor Frederic Remington, who was a known sculptor of western themes. The energy of the composition contains qualities which she most enjoyed in sculptures and once again displays the optimism with which she led her life. She was particularly drawn to sculptures “that are full of force, feeling and emotional expression.” For her it was important “to believe the whole heart and soul of the artist is in his work. When he can make others believe that, he is a great artist.”
Sally Farnham died in New York City on April 28, 1943. She is buried in the All Saint's Episcopal Church Cemetery in
Great Neck, New York
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck (village), New York, Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, New York, Great Neck Es ...
. Her tombstone is inscribed, “A merry heart goes all the day,” a reflection of her unyielding optimism.
Major public works
![SimonBolivarCentralParkNYC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/SimonBolivarCentralParkNYC.JPG)
*The Spirit of Liberty (1905), Civil War monument-Library Park,
Ogdensburg, New York
Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and de ...
*Defenders of the Flag (1908), Civil War monument- Mt. Hope Cemetery,
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, ...
*G.A.R. Memorial (1908), Civil War monument-Holy Sepluchure Cemetery, Rochester, New York
*The Frieze of Discoverers (1910)-Pan American Union (now
OAS
OAS or Oas may refer to:
Chemistry
* O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis
Computers
* Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards
* OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
) Building, Washington, D.C.
*Civil War monument (1912)-
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District.
History
The initial patent for the land that w ...
.
*Simon Bolivar (1921)-
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
,
New York, New York
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 Uni ...
.
*Father Junipero Serra with Indian Boy (1925)-
San Fernando Mission, California.
*Like Hell You Can (1926), World War I monument-
Fultonville, New York
Fultonville is a village in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The village is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.
The Fultonville Village is on the south bank of the Mohawk River in the Town of Glen. It is west of Ams ...
Private commissioned memorials
*Anna Dick Biardot (1921)-Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York
*Vernon Castle Memorial (1922)-Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York
*Catharine Fonner (1925)-Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York
*''Flora'' at the Preston Pope Satterwhite grave, Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky
*Wiser-Historic Ogdensburgh Cemetery, Ogdensburg, New York
Medals
* Medal to Commemorate the Erection of the Simon Bolivar Monument in Central Park, 1921
* National Navy Club Medal, 1923
* The John Drew Medal, 1923
Portraits
* Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt, 1906
* Portrait of Jose de Sucre, 1910
* Senator Andrew Wms. Clark, 1915
* Bust of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, c. 1916
* Col. William Hayward, 15th Infantry, 1918
* Bust of Ralph Barton, 1929
References
External links
*''The Art of Being an Artist: Sally James Farnham, American Sculptor'', by Peter H. Hassrick, Frederic Remington Art Museum: Ogdensburg, NY 2005
*http://www.sallyjamesfarnham.org
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farnham, Sally James
American women sculptors
1869 births
1943 deaths
People from Ogdensburg, New York
Sculptors from New York (state)
20th-century American sculptors
19th-century American sculptors
19th-century American women artists
20th-century American women artists