Andrew Walker: Praises for Jim Haas and MacNeil’s “Sun Vow”
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Our post of March 9, 2023 shared Dr. Andrew Walker’s praise for Jim Haas’ recent Bio of Hermon MacNeil
Walker, since 2011 has been has been Director at the Amon Carter Museum of Fort Worth, Texas.
His knowledge of MacNeil is evident in the volume “Shaping the West.” MacNeil’s sculpture of the ‘Sun Vow’ graces its cover (see photo above). Published by the Denver Art Museum, Walker contributed the essay entitled: “Hermon Atkins MacNeil and the 1904 World’s Fair: A Monumental Program for the American West.” Praise from Andrew Walker constitutes worthy acclaim.
It is all in the faces – the ideals passed to a new generation.
While highlighting the work of Hermon Atkins MacNeil, Dr. Walker illustrates how the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis included a monumental sculpture initiative. He does this with narrative and photo description of the major sculptures that formed the grounds, fountains, waterfalls and buildings of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis. The current St. Louis Art Museum (where Walker was previously a curator) was the “Palace of Fine Arts” conceived by Cass Gilbert, architect of the fair grounds (and later the US Supreme Court Building). Over a century later, MacNeil’s three sculpture relief panels still look down from their vantage point above the three sets of doors at the main entrance.
The ‘Sun Vow’ at the MMA – NYC – with Daniel Chester French’s “Angel of Death” in relief in background (See also Webmaster’s <= Comment at left. The ‘Sun Vow’ at the MMA – NYC – with Daniel Chester French’s “Angel of Death” in relief in background (See also Webmaster’s <= Comment at left.
The more I study this sculpture (as other MacNeil pieces?) the more new details I find in MacNeil’s creations.
The photo at right shows MacNeil’s Sun Vow with Daniel Chester French’s “Angel of Death” in the background. French and MacNeil were colleagues and collaborators. The Angel of Death has grasped the hand of the sculptor.
[See more of this Daniel Chester French sculpture, CLICK HERE.]
Webmaster’s Comment: The beauty and ‘irony’ of the two sculptures together, long after the death of the two sculptors and the vanishing of the culture of the Sun Vow that MacNeil has memorialized, are a compounded and profound statement of the power of art and artists.
SOURCES:
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SHAPING THE WEST : American Sculptors of the 19th Century. With additional essays by Alice Levi Duncan, Thayer. Tolles, Peter Hassrick, Sarah E. Boehme, and Andrew Walker.
