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Frederick William MacMonnies
Patinated Bronze Statuette of William Shakespeare
Circa 1895

Name: Patinated Bronze Statuette of William Shakespeare
Brand: Frederick William MacMonnies
Rating: 5 (4 reviews)

$124,500List Price

About the Item

Frederick William MacMonnies 1863–1937 American William Shakespeare Signed "F. MacMonnies" and foundry-marked "E. Gruet Jeune, Fondeur, Paris" Bronze Frederick William MacMonnies, one of America’s most celebrated sculptors of the Beaux-Arts tradition, crafted a timeless homage to William Shakespeare in this exceptional bronze statuette. This 29-inch-high example is a scaled version of the life-size statue commissioned for the Library of Congress in 1894 and installed in the iconic Main Reading Room in 1896. Cast by the esteemed E. Gruet Jeune foundry in Paris, the bronze’s warm dark-brown patina and exquisite form serve as a stunning tribute to the great Bard and the artistic brilliance of the sculptor who brought his likeness to life. MacMonnies presents Shakespeare in contemplative repose, his stylus poised over an open book, exuding thoughtful inspiration. Every detail—from the intricately embroidered cloak to the ruffled collar and distinctive trunk hose—reflects a commitment to historical authenticity, inspired by the Droeshout portrait in the First Folio and Shakespeare’s funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon. Critics of the time praised the statue’s lifelike quality and dignified simplicity, with Scribner’s Magazine (November 1895) calling it “more humanistic and thoughtful” than any of MacMonnies’s earlier works. Other versions of this sculpture reside in esteemed collections, including the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. and the Grolier Club in New York. Trained by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, MacMonnies was a prominent American sculptor and painter, a star of the Beaux-Arts movement. Born in Brooklyn, he trained under Augustus Saint-Gaudens and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. MacMonnies gained international acclaim for works like the Columbian Fountain at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the Nathan Hale monument, cast by the same foundry as ours, now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. Known for his dynamic compositions and blend of American and European artistic traditions, he spent much of his career in France, earning recognition as a master of monumental and allegorical sculpture. Circa 1895 On base: 37 1/2“ high x 16” wide x 13 1/8“ deep

Creator:
Frederick William MacMonnies (1863-1937, American)
Creation Year:
Circa 1895
Dimensions:
Height: 37.5 in (95.25 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)Depth: 13.13 in (33.36 cm)
Medium:
Bronze
Movement & Style:
Academic
Period:
19th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New Orleans, LA
Reference Number:
Seller: 32-03701stDibs: LU18615740342

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Frederick William MacMonnies

A sculptor of classical figures, American-born Frederick MacMonnies had fame in the United States and Europe in the later half of the 19th century and early 20th century. He occasionally returned to America but lived most of his life as in expatriate in France. He was especially known for his lithe bronze figures, especially ones titled Diana. The classical names of these figures allowed him the appearance of propriety but gave him the opportunity to model svelte nudes. Frederick MacMonnies was one of the first American sculptors to recognize the potential market of the middle class. He copyrighted his works and then contracted with foundries to mass produce some of his figures such as Diana in smaller sizes. MacMonnies was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a child prodigy at carving stone. At age 18, he worked in the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and then persuaded him to become his assistant, keeping models damp and covered, running errands, and cleaning the studio. Evenings he studied at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, and the National Academy of Design. In Saint-Gaudens' studio, he met many of the wealthy people who shared Saint-Gaudens Beaux-Arts based ideas that art and architecture should be unified in order to create public art in America equal to that of classical antiquity or Renaissance Europe. Among the men that MacMonnies met through Saint-Gaudens who later furthered his career were architects Stanford White and Charles McKim and John LaFarge, decorator of mansions of the wealthy including the Vanderbilts. After four years of study and work in New York, MacMonnies left for Paris, opting for the more modernist techniques he could learn there over the more traditional sculpture teaching in Rome. One of his first teachers was Alexandre Falguiere, who had been an instructor of Saint-Gaudens and who injected a degree of contemporary realism into his classical figures. MacMonnies mingled with many upper class American expatriates and met his future wife, Mary Fairchild, a painter. MacMonnies came home briefly to help Saint-Gaudens with a project and then gained admittance in Paris to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where he did numerous classical figures inspired by the style of small bronzes of Renaissance Florence, Italy. In 1889, he established his reputation with his sculpture of "Diana" at the Paris Salon. The execution of his nude sculpture was a challenge for a sculptor such as himself who strove for slim, well proportioned figures---the "aestheticizing of the nude". (Katz 12) In those days, most of the female models were poor peasants who were stocky with poor figures, distorted feet and often unbathed. However, MacMonnies found Marie Caira as the model for his Diana figures, and she, from a professional family of models, had the figure and social stature that met his criteria. Although he chose to live in Paris, many of his public and private sculpture commissions in future years, with the help of Saint-Gaudens and also architect, Stanford White, were in the United States.

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