Horatio Greenough

Horatio Greenough (September 6, 1805 – December 18, 1852) was an American sculptor best known for his United States government commissions The Rescue (1837–50) and George Washington (1840).

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Greenough

His father did not hinder his family's artistic bent but insisted on sending Horatio to Harvard, where he graduated in 1825 and where he met the famed American painter Washington Allston. Since childhood he had loved to shape things. While in college he submitted an obelisk model in a design contest for the Bunker Hill Monument. At his friends' urging, after graduation he sailed to Rome to experience art first hand.

He became America's first sculptor. For the rest of his life, he would spend only three years here.

Lodged on Rome's Pincian Hill, Greenough studied composite and portraiture without slavish copying of ancient statues. Several busts were modeled, but by August 1826, due to driving himself too hard and his schedule, the young artist fell prey to malaria and depression. Though the malaria soon cleared up, the depression persisted, and in January 1827 Greenough set out for Naples for a change of scenery. There he suffered a manic fit, survived it, and decided to go home. On the trip back to Boston the depression lifted.

The rest of 1827 saw him back at the family mansion at Centre and South Streets drawing, modelling, reading and writing. At this time he modelled a bust of Mayor Josiah Quincy of Boston-the first of many that survive. His busts, of which many exist in Boston's older institutions, are known for their strong likenesses. The new year saw Greenough in Washington, doing busts of President Adams and Chief Justice Marshall. He fished around for other commissions.

On returning to Italy in mid-1828 the Yankee stonecutter (as he called himself) settled in Florence with its better climate and artistic colony. Early on he did his first group statue and his first full-length portrait statue. Through his connections Greenough was able to get Lafayette to sit for him in Paris, whence came the bust of the Revolution's youngest general in the State House. In 1832 he was commissioned to produce a full-length statue of Washington for the Capitol's rotunda. This made him greatly sought after in Florence.

Greenough enjoyed child portraiture the most and did many busts of this kind while he waited a year for money for the Washington statue. He chose to portray Washington nude as the ancient Greeks had shown their chief god Zeus at Olympia. It was a strong national symbol in Greece, and Greenough reasoned that Washington in such a pose would be a fine American symbol in a new country where things Greek and Roman were treasured and copied.

In 1836, after Washington had been cast in plaster, Greenough visited America briefly to get a commission for a statuary group called "The Rescue" for the eastern facade of the Capitol. In Boston he visited his dying father and obtained more bust commissions. On board ship to Italy he met Louisa Gore of Boston and, with her, had three children after their marriage in October 1837. Once the Washington was finished (which Greenough considered his crowning work) despite the general horror over "a nude Father of the Country," he went on to finish his group statue "The Rescue."

In 1851 Florence became a hot point in the fight for Italian independence. Greenough and his family returned to America, making a home in Newport, Rhode Island. Characteristically, the artist plunged into events and urged statues of Cooper the novelist and Washington for Newport. He wrote essays and delivered lectures on art. His activity overcame his nervous system, and he was taken to McLean Mental Hospital in metropolitan Boston, where, after a few days, he died on December 18, 1852.

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also see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Greenough [1]

Sculptor. Born in Boston, Greenough showed his interest in art at a young age and was informally trained by acquaintances. After graduating from Phillips Academy, he went to Harvard, where he was mentored by painter Washington Allston before graduating in 1821. Greenough was especially interested in antiquity and traveled to Rome, Florence, and other parts of Europe. His works include busts or statues of James Fenimore Cooper, the Marquis de Lafayette, and John Quincy Adams. Today, he is generally considered the first American sculptor to achieve international fame. He earned two substantial government commissions, including "The Rescue" (1837-1851), which adorned the Capitol building in Washington until 1958, and a larger-than-life sculpture of George Washington (1832-1841), depicting the first President seated and wearing a toga, now at the Smithsonian. Today, his sculptures are found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Smithsonian, among others. (bio by: Midnightdreary)

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