American sculptor
Olin Levi Warner |
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Warner in 1874 |
Born | (1844-04-09)April 9, 1844
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Died | August 14, 1896(1896-08-14) (aged 52)
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Known for |
Bas relief, sculpture |
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Olin Levi Warner (April 9, 1844 – August 14, 1896) was an American sculptor and artist noted for the striking
bas relief portrait medallions and
busts he created in the late 19th century.
[1]
Early life
Warner was born in
Suffield, Connecticut. Warner's great-great-uncle was the
Revolutionary leader
Seth Warner.
Career
As a young man he worked as an artisan and a
telegraph operator. In 1869, he had saved up enough money to move to Paris, where he studied sculpture at the
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts under
François Jouffroy, and worked as an assistant to
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.
[2]
When the
French Third Republic was proclaimed in 1870, he enlisted in the
Foreign Legion, resuming his studies when the
siege was over (May 1871).
In 1872, he moved to
New York City and established a studio. He was one of the founders and a member of the
Society of American Artists in 1877,
[4] and an associate of the
National Academy of Design in 1888.
A trip through the
Northwest Territory led to a series of Native American-themed portrait medallions. He designed the souvenir
half-dollar for the
Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893.
After meeting with little commercial success, however, he returned to live at his father's farm in
Vermont, where he also did work for manufacturers of silver and plated ware. Towards the end of his life his sculptures became known to a wider audience.
Death
He died in 1896, after a cycling accident in
Central Park in
New York City. In the 1970s, Warner's heirs donated his collection of personal papers to the
Smithsonian Institution's
Archives of American Art.
Warner is credited with popularizing the
bas relief, through numerous portraits in this style. Among his best known works are:
- May (1872)
- "
Edwin Forrest" (medallion, 1876)
-
Rutherford B. Hayes (bust, 1876)
- Twilight (1878)
- Dancing Nymph (1879)
- Eight portrait busts on the facade of the
Brooklyn Historical Society including Michelangelo, Beethoven, Columbus, Franklin, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, a Norseman, and a Native American. (1881)
[5]
- "Gov.
William Alfred Buckingham" (statue, 1883)
-
Statue of William Lloyd Garrison (1885)
- "The Reverend
William F. Morgan, D. D." (bust, 1887)
-
Skidmore Fountain for Portland, Oregon (1888)
- Diana (1888)
-
Major General Charles Devens (statue, 1892–1896)
- In 1895, he was commissioned to create three bronze portals (
tympanum and pair of doors) for the
Library of Congress. The three tympanums and one door had been completed when he died, and
Herbert Adams finished the rest of the commission.
[6]
References
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^ Tolles, Thayer. "American Relief Sculpture". In Timeline of Art History. New York:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–., (October 2006).
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^ Caffin, Charles Henry (1903). American Masters of Sculpture, pp. 133–34. Doubleday, Page & Company.
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^ "Olin Levi Warner." The Sovereign Collection Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA.
EarthLink
Archived March 3, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
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^
Brooklyn Historical Society Website
Archived July 27, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine
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^ Olin Levi Warner Biography. National Museum of American Art (CD-ROM) (New York and Washington, D.C.: MacMillan Digital in cooperation with the
National Museum of American Art, 1996).
Attribution:
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