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Part of the American
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Harriet G. Hosmer 1860 ~ 1908
Harriet G. Hosmer
This famous American sculptor stands out
in strong relief among those women of America who have attained
distinction in this art. Miss Hosmer was born in Watertown,
Massachusetts, October 9, 1830. Her mother died when she was
quite young, and a sister also dying with the mother's disease,
consumption, Dr. Hosmer determined that Harriet should develop
physically before any great effort was made toward her
education.
Her early life was accordingly spent in the woods and fields
about their home and on the Charles River, which flowed near.
She grew up like a boy. She was an eager reader and so her
education was largely of self-made manner and opportunity. In
the first school in which she was placed her brother-in-law,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, was principal, but he did not hesitate to
write her father, that he could do nothing with her, and she was
placed in the care of Mrs. Sedgwick, who had a school at Lenox,
Berkshire County.
Mrs. Sedgwick was a woman of great tact and breadth of mind, so
she soon won Harriet's confidence, and she remained under Mrs.
Sedgwick's care for three years. In her early youth she had
shown a great fondness for modeling her pets and treasures of
the field, and so was permitted to take up lessons in modeling,
drawing, and anatomical studies in Boston. She applied to the
Boston Medical School for a course of study in anatomy, but her
admittance was refused on account of her sex. Later she gained
admission to the Medical College of St. Louis, and Professor
Macdowell spared no pains to give her every advantage. The
life-size medallion which she cut of Professor Macdowell on the
base of his bust done by Clevenger, is treasured up to this day
by that college.
While in St Louis, she made her home with the family of a former
friend and companion at Lenox, Wayman Crow, who proved a most
valued friend, and who gave her the order for her first statue
when she went to Rome as a student. On her return home Dr.
Hosmer fitted up a studio for her and she did Canova's
"Napoleon" in marble for her father. Her next work was an ideal
bust of Hesper. Then she asked her father to permit her to go to
Rome to study, as she wished to make this her life work, and on
November 12, 1852, Dr. Hosmer and she arrived in Europe. She
desired especially to become a student for a time under John
Gibson, the leading English sculptor, and when he saw the
photographs of her "Hesper," he consented to take her as a
pupil, and for seven years she worked under his direction and
encouragement.
She copied the "Cupid" of Praxiteles, and "Tasso" from the
British Museum. Her first original work was "Daphne," then she
produced her "Medusa." These were both accepted in Boston in
1853, and were much praised by Mr. Gibson. She also had the
gratification of receiving words of approval from Rauch, the
great Prussian sculptor, whose work of the beautiful Queen
Louise at Charlottenburg is one of the famous pieces of
sculpture of modem times. Later she did for Mr. Crow, "OEnone,"
and later "Beatrice Cenci," for the St. Louis Mercantile
Library. Her father having lost his property and no longer being
able to bear the expense of her studies, she determined to
support herself by her own work. She took some modest apartments
and disposed of all her luxuries and plunged into her work, the
results of which have added to her fame. One of her pieces of
work was entitled "Puck." This she duplicated for many crowned
heads and distinguished people of many of the Continental
countries. She did an exquisite figure upon the sarcophagus of
the sixteen-year-old daughter of Madam Talconnet, who died in
Rome.
Her statue of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, was considered one of
her greatest works. It was exhibited in Chicago at the Sanitary
Fair in behalf of the soldiers, and from its exhibition Miss
Hosmer received five thousand dollars. While on a visit to this
country in 1860, she received an order from St Louis for a
bronze portrait statue of Missouri famous statesman, Thomas Hart
Benton, which was unveiled May 27, 1868, in Lafayette Park by
Mrs. John C. Fremont, the daughter of Benton. For this work Miss
Hosmer received the greatest praise and a substantial
remuneration of ten thousand dollars. Orders now crowded upon
her. Her "Sleeping Faun" is an exquisite piece of work, and was
exhibited at the Dublin Exposition in 1865. Her "Siren
fountain," executed for Lady Marian Alford, is one of her most
artistic productions, and for many years prior to her death she
was engaged in preparing a golden gateway for Ashridge Hall,
England, ordered by Earl Brownlow. She did the statue of the
beautiful Queen, of Naples, for which she received royal praise
and approval Harriet Hosmer has placed the name of American
women high among the sculptors of modern times. Her death in
1908 was a loss to the artistic world.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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