Francis Edwin Elwell (also cited as Frank Edwin Elwell) (1858-1922) was an American sculptor.
Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Elwell was orphaned at age four and, according to various sources, was adopted by author Louisa May Alcott[1] or grew up under the care of his grandfather, a Mr. Farrar.[2]
Elwell received his first instruction in art from May Alcott’s sister, Abigail May Alcott, who also taught noted sculptor Daniel Chester French.[3] In 1881, he moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and later privately with Alexandre Falguière.[2] Elwell later studied under French and shared a studio with him in New York City.[3]
Elwell’s works are numerous and varied. He exhibited at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and later served as curator of ancient and modern sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Elwell is further represented in the Senate’s Vice Presidential Bust Collection by a marble bust of Garret A. Hobart. [3]
His works include:
* Seventh Rhode Island Infantry Memorial at the Vicksburg, Mississippi National Military Park.
* Dickens and Little Nell (1890), Clark Park, bought by the Fairmount Park Art Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Received 1891 gold medal from Philadelphia Art Club, 1893 gold medal from World’s Columbian Exposition.
* Levi P. Morton (1891), marble bust in the U.S. Senate.[3]
* Death of Strength, (1888), on the tomb of Frederik Hendrik Pont at the cemetery around the Grote Kerk at Edam, Holland
* Bust of Mr. Peter Esselmont, Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland
* Diana and the Lion (1893), Art Institute of Chicago.
* Egypt Awaking, bought at the Paris Salon of 1896 by M. Gabriel Goupillat of Paris.
* Memorial to Edwin Booth, Mount Auburn, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
* Equestrian statue of General Winfield Scott Hancock (1896), on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
* New Life (1899), Lowell cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts, property of Hon. Charles Sumner Lilley, called the "Bonney Memorial." (plaster in Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts).
* Orchid (1899), owned by Theodore B. Starr, New York City.
* Aqua Viva, property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
* Andrew McMillan Memorial, Utica, New York.
* Kronos.
* Pan-American Fountain (1901).
* Intelligence (1901), in front of New York state building for the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York.
* Elihu Yale (1901), Yale Club of New York City.[2]
* Colonel Robert Van Horn, (1906), marble bust, Van Horn High School, Independence, Missouri
Elwell died in Darien, Connecticut.[1]
References
1. ^ a b Elwell bio at AskArt.com
2. ^ a b c Taft, Lorado (1903 (reprinted 1969)). The History of American Sculpture. New York: Macmillan (reprinted by Ayer Company Publishing). ISBN 040502228X.
3. ^ a b c d Levi P. Morton bust in the U.S. Senate
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