Historical records matching Daniel Chester French
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About Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931), one of the most prolific and acclaimed American sculptors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is best known for his monumental work, the statue of Abraham Lincoln (1920) in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
French was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Henry Flagg French (1813–1885), a lawyer, judge, Assistant US Treasury Secretary and author of a book that described the French drain, and his wife Anne Richardson.
Early life (age 2mo- age 10) was spent in a house his father had built on Nelson St. in Exeter. It was moved a short distance but is still standing (2019) in near original condition. The house was moved to make room for an Episcopal church.
In 1867, French moved with his family to Concord, Massachusetts, where he was a neighbor and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the Alcott family. His decision to pursue sculpting was influenced by Louisa May Alcott's sister May Alcott.
French died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1931 at age 81 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts.
American Sculptor
Notable Works include:
- The Angel of Death and the Sculptor, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
- Memory, Metropolitan Museum of Art, marble carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, 1917-19, from a bronze of 1886-87, revised in 1909.
- Mourning Victory, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
- And the Sons of God saw the Daughters of Men That They Were Fair…, For French, an unusually erotic sculpture depicting the verse from Genesis whereby a fallen angel seduces a mortal woman thus producing the mythical Nephilim, Corcoran Gallery of Art; Washington, D.C., signed and dated 1923.
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Daniel Chester French's Timeline
| 1850 |
April 20, 1850
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Chester, New Hampshire
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| 1875 |
1875
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New Hampshire, United States
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| 1877 |
1877
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New Hampshire, United States
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| 1889 |
August 3, 1889
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Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States
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| 1931 |
October 7, 1931
Age 81
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Stockbridge, Massachusetts
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| ???? |
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
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