Chief Manuelito Sculpture
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Jul
20
Hermon MacNeil’s “Chief Manuelito” has returned home. He has a completely restored look and frame.
[CLICK Next arrows below >> to View 10 more Photos]
MacNeil’s original 1895 Chief Manuelito as he rested above the doors of C.N. Cotton’s Trading Post in Gallup, New Mexico
During his 127 years of standing in Gallup, New Mexico, MacNeil’s 8’4″ cement constructed “Chief” was:
Chief Manuelito of the Navajo (circa 2003)
Commissioned by trader, C. N. Cotton,- Sculpted under a tent cover in the desert,
- Sculpted of cement,
- Built around a wood and wire armature,
- Wrapped in the colors of the Chief’s blanket,
- Standing above the entrance of the trading post,
- Weather-beaten,
- Sun-baked,
- Often repainted,
- Moved awkwardly,
- Visited by Navajo Elders and young children,
- Becoming an icon of the Navajo people,
- Hidden from sale to a grocery conglomerate,
- Stored in a warehouse by the Cotton family,
- Donated to McKinley County, N.M. at age 115 years,
- Approved for restoration with County funds,
- Professionally restored by EVERGREENE Architectural Arts,
- The new centerpiece of the Courthouse Annex,
- Given a new century as an “Icon” on the people of Gallop, N.M.
Evergreene Arts employee patiently restoring Hermon MacNeil’s 1895 desert figure of Chief Manuelito.
MacNeil’s “Chief Manuelito of the Navajo” as restored by McKinley County for new Courthouse Annex.
MacNeil sculpted a cement statue of Chief Manuelito for trader C. N. Cotton under a tent in the dessert. His subsequent sculptures of Native Americans after that summer of 1895 continued his cultural interest. That fascination began with his friendship and sculpting of Black Pipe, the Sioux warrior. He first met Black Pipe at the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The Sioux modeled for MacNeil and later worked in his studio for over a year before MacNeil’s trip with Garland.
AN AMAZING STORY OF RESTORATION:
EVERGREENE Architectural Arts of Brooklyn N.Y. is the enterprise that restored this piece. Their story of this project with photos of the elements of the project are duplicated here from their website. 1
City Hall, Gallup, NMChief Manuelito served as an important Navajo leader in the mid-19th century against the encroachment of the U. S. Government. Kit Carson’s scorched earth campaign left many native people starving though until they were forced to turn themselves in. Throughout this period, Manuelito led attacks and remained among the last to surrender. He remained a popular leader, advocating for perseverance in the native culture and advancement through education. He is represented here by the artist Hermon Atkins MacNeil, who created several other notable sculptures of Native American subjects and themes.
The Chief Manuelito sculpture was created using wood, plaster, and paint. Past cleaning efforts had caused significant damage. Cracks in the gypsum and plaster layers were associated with the movement of the wooden armature. The sculpture had areas of loss, and areas of visible previous repairs.
FOOTNOTES:
- Restoration – https://evergreene.com/projects/chief-manuelito-sculpture/
- History of Manuelito, Navajo Chief. Read more at: https://www.aaanativearts.com/manuelitio-navajo
Archive for October, 2011 posting on Manuelito’s return
Update ~ MacNeil’s “Chief Manuelito” ~ Has Returned!
Posted by: | Comments
GOOD NEWS ! SURPRISE ~ Hermon MacNeil’s Chief Manuelito is back!
Yesterday’s post about MacNeil and Manuelito generated considerable interest and news from Gallup, NM.
Carolyn Milligan saw our Native American Day story and responded:
“The restored Manuelito has been installed. Early tomorrow I’ll see and visit him. There are a few details to conclude but I will send you images of the restoration. Manuelito[‘s] dignity and presence have been skillfully restored. You will be pleased with the result.” … Give me a few days to reply to you and to send you images of Manuelito installed in his new location. You will then have before and after images of Manuelito to include on your website.
Artist Julian Scott’s portrait of Manuelito‑ Chief of the Navajos [Source: americangallery.wordpress.com]
In his seventy-five years of life, the Chief was driven, accused, abused, enraged, betrayed, wise, proud and a thousand other emotions that a leader might feel in a war of cultures. All these experiences exacted a price from his life and energy.
Harrison Lapahle’s website offers a brief history of Manuelito. He describes the warrior’s closing years with a sorrow and painful candor that recalls the similar sorrow of his Navajo Nation.
“He spent the last ten years of his life unhappy, certain that he had done the wrong thing by encouraging education, and by taking back all the livestock stolen by the young raiders of the tribe. Whisky was small comfort for his misery, but he drank it anyway. All around him his people still believed his words “Education is the ladder,” and they sent more and more of their children to school. They followed Manuelito even though he refused to lead them any longer.
A delegation of Navajo representatives who traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1874 to discuss the provisions of the 1868 treaty with President Ulysses S. Grant. The delegation consisted of (left to right, front row): Carnero Mucho, Mariano, Juanita (Manuelito’s wife), Manuelito, Manuelito Segundo, and Tiene-su-se Standing: “Wild” Hank Sharp (Anglo), Ganado Mucho, Barbas Hueros, Agent Arny, Kentucky Mountain Bill (Anglo), Cabra Negra, Cayatanita, Narbona Primero, and Jesus Arviso, interpreter.
He was a disheartened man, seventy-five years old in 1893, when he became very ill. Measles and then pneumonia brought the weakened old man to his deathbed.
In his fever, the years seemed to fade as he watched the sunlight play in small patches on the hogan wall. He saw the faces around him, his friends and family. He thought he heard Zarcillos Largos say, “Come, on the path of beauty you will restore your strength.” Manuelito closed his eyes in peace.
His death saddened many Navajos who had found strength in his strength. But his life had given his people a new trail to follow, and they walked it proudly, as Manuelito had walked.” [ http://www.lapahie.com/manuelito.cfm ]
A wonderful surprise! We await the return of the Chief to Gallup.
Seeing Chief Manuelito with his ‘dignity’ back, will prepare us all for the 21st Century.
Uncle Hermon would smile.
NOTES:
- History of Manuelito, Navajo Chief. Read more at: https://www.aaanativearts.com/manuelitio-navajo
- Navajo Chief Manuelito (1818–1893) was one of the principal war chiefs of the Diné people before, during and after the Long Walk Period. His name means Little Manuel in Spanish.
- As any Navajo, he was known by different names depending upon context. He was known as Ashkii Diyinii (Holy Boy), Dahaana Baadaané (Son-in-Law of Late Texan), Hastiin Chʼilhaajiní (“Black Weeds”) and as Nabááh Jiłtʼaa (War Chief, or Warrior Grabbed Enemy) to other Diné. After his first battle at age 17, he was given the name Hashkeh Naabaah, meaning Angry Warrior.
- Read more at: https://www.aaanativearts.com/manuelitio-navajo
Related Images:
Oct
11
Update ~ MacNeil’s “Chief Manuelito” ~ Has Returned!
Posted by: | CommentsGOOD NEWS ! SURPRISE ~ Hermon MacNeil’s Chief Manuelito is back!
Yesterday’s post about MacNeil and Manuelito generated considerable interest and news from Gallup, NM.
Carolyn Milligan saw our Native American Day story and responded:
“The restored Manuelito has been installed. Early tomorrow I’ll see and visit him. There are a few details to conclude but I will send you images of the restoration. Manuelito[‘s] dignity and presence have been skillfully restored. You will be pleased with the result.” … Give me a few days to reply to you and to send you images of Manuelito installed in his new location. You will then have before and after images of Manuelito to include on your website.
Artist Julian Scott’s portrait of Manuelito‑ Chief of the Navajos [Source: americangallery.wordpress.com
Harrison Lapahle’s website offers a brief history of Manuelito. He describes the warrior’s closing years with a sorrow and painful candor that recalls the similar sorrow of his Navajo Nation.
“He spent the last ten years of his life unhappy, certain that he had done the wrong thing by encouraging education, and by taking back all the livestock stolen by the young raiders of the tribe. Whisky was small comfort for his misery, but he drank it anyway. All around him his people still believed his words “Education is the ladder,” and they sent more and more of their children to school. They followed Manuelito even though he refused to lead them any longer.
A delegation of Navajo representatives who traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1874 to discuss the provisions of the 1868 treaty with President Ulysses S. Grant. The delegation consisted of (left to right, front row): Carnero Mucho, Mariano, Juanita (Manuelito’s wife), Manuelito, Manuelito Segundo, and Tiene-su-se Standing: “Wild” Hank Sharp (Anglo), Ganado Mucho, Barbas Hueros, Agent Arny, Kentucky Mountain Bill (Anglo), Cabra Negra, Cayatanita, Narbona Primero, and Jesus Arviso, interpreter.
He was a disheartened man, seventy-five years old in 1893, when he became very ill. Measles and then pneumonia brought the weakened old man to his deathbed.
In his fever, the years seemed to fade as he watched the sunlight play in small patches on the hogan wall. He saw the faces around him, his friends and family. He thought he heard Zarcillos Largos say, “Come, on the path of beauty you will restore your strength.” Manuelito closed his eyes in peace.
His death saddened many Navajos who had found strength in his strength. But his life had given his people a new trail to follow, and they walked it proudly, as Manuelito had walked.” [ http://www.lapahie.com/manuelito.cfm ]
A wonderful surprise! We await the return of the Chief to Gallup.
Seeing Chief Manuelito with his ‘dignity’ back, will prepare us all for the 21st Century.
Uncle Hermon would smile.
Related Images:
Oct
10
Chief Manuelito – and “Native American Day” in South Dakota
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"Moqui Runner", "Prayer for Rain"
"A Primitive Chant"
A MacNeil "Sun Vow"
"A Chief of the Multnomah"
Chief Manuelito of the Navajo sculpted by Hermon A. MacNeil in 1895 two years after the Chief's death at age 75.
This topic seems a strange fit for a website devoted to the art of Hermon Atkins MacNeil, an American Sculptor of the 19th and 20th centuries, born in Massachuesetts of Scottish descendents.
Please, bear with me briefly while I take you on a journey toward today’s Native American Day story.
STEP ONE: An arrogant sense of Manifest Destiny often accompanied many 19th and 20th Century concepts of American culture, history, and pride. An inescapable irony in our own 21st Century, is that Hermon MacNeil and many of his contemporary sculptors placed many Native American images at the center stage of the historical and allegorical sculptures of World Fairs from 1890 to 1915. That is quite visible throughout this website. I am beginning to find that MacNeil’s embrace of Native American themes in his sculpting, especially from 1895-1905, still offers us lessons more than a century later in understanding culture, anthropology and life values.
STEP TWO: Today is Native American Day in South Dakota, my home for the last 31 years. I understand that California is the only other state celebrating a Native American Day. “In 1989 the South Dakota legislature unanimously passed legislation proposed by Governor George S. Mickelson to proclaim 1990 as the “Year of Reconciliation” between Native Americans and whites, to change Columbus Day to Native American Day and to make Martin Luther King’s birthday into a state holiday. Since 1990 the second Monday in October has been celebrated as Native American Day in South Dakota.” [ Wikipedia: Native American Day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_Day ] In April 1993, Governor George Mickelson, a friendly giant of a man, and eight civic leaders were killed in a tragic plane crash in Iowa. His death was a great loss to this state and to hopes of Reconciliation. We still observe the day, even if it is in a subdued fashion.
STEP THREE: I am Daniel Neil Leininger, founding webmaster of HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com. I am a Caucasian descendant of Scottish German stock. My maternal grandfather. Thomas Henry McNeil (1860-1932), was a cousin to Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947). My mother, Ollie McNeil Leininger, always called Hermon MacNeil her “Uncle Hermon.” My middle name, Neil, was my mother’s gift. It reminds me of my heritage.
STEP FOUR: In researching the sculpture of MacNeil in recent years, I have developed a growing sense of “historical irony” in his placement of Native American images to symbolize the vitality of American expansion westward through his cultural era of Manifest Destiny. His choice moves against the strong current of self-absorption in contemporary cultures, both his and ours.
MacNeil's sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exhibitition, Buffalo, NY 1901 (reverse). Note the shields with South and North American continents
EXAMPLES 1-5: See photos above:
EXAMPLE 6: MacNeil made a Pan American Exhibition Award Medallion with an indigenous North American and an indigenous South American sharing a Peace Pipe. Probably a corrupted mix of Native images, but it is a allegory, a visually symbolic representation carrying a larger meaning.
THE STORY OF MacNEIL and CHIEF MANUELITO:
MacNeil never met Chief Manuelito. Two years after his death, MacNeil made a statue of him using only a photograph supplied by trader C. N. Cotton. The year was 1895. Thirty years earlier, Manuelito had survived the “scorched-earth” missions of the U.S. Army under Gen. James H. Carleton and Col. Kit Carson, the “Long Walk” (a 320 mile forced march of men women and children through the deserts) to Bosque Rodondo, and the imprisonment of Native peoples there for four years.
Navajo Chief Manuelito - taken between 1868 and his death in 1893. He was a war Chief of the 1860. (photo Credit: ASU- Denver Public Library).
MacNeil made the statue tribute out of available materials. He built a wooden frame, a wire mesh surface and sculpted cement around it forming an eight foot two inch tall image of the Chief wrapped in a bright native blanket. His techniques seem to mirror the many ‘staff plaster’ statues he made for the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair. He was visiting the southwest that summer with friends Hamlin Garland (writer) and C.F. Browne (artist) to experience the vanishing Native culture at the urging od E. E. Ayers and others.
As the story goes, after he finished he asked Cotton if the piece was acceptable. Cotton left and brought in a group of older Native women to enter the canvas enclosure where MacNeil had setup a open-air studio workshop. After much weeping, the women, one of whom was Manuelito’s wife, came out obviously moved by the experience of being with the piece.
See my previous stories on Manuelito and MacNeil, and MacNeil’s two friends, Hamlin Garland and C.F. Browne.
Edward E. Ayers was the benefactor of the three artists who urged them to make the trip. A former member of the First California Cavalry Volunteers of the U.S. Army in AZ during the Civil War and the Native American oppressions of the 1860s,Ayers was stationed at the Cerro Colorado Silver Mine (now a ghost town) south of Tuscon in Pima County AZ. He was in charge of 14 men who guarded the silver mine from robbers. While there he happened on a copy of William H. Prescott’s Conquest of Mexico placed there by the mine’s owner Col. Samuel Colt, of revolver-fame. Ayers devoured the book repeatedly and began his life-long insatiable interest in Native American literature, manuscripts, and culture. He became an American business magnate, who is “best remembered for the endowments of his substantial collections of books and original manuscripts from Native American and colonial-era history and ethnology, which were donated to the Newberry Library and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.” [ Wikipedia ] (Editors Note: Ayers passion for understanding and preserving Native American culture continues into the 21st Century through the legacy of his estate now bequeathed to Newberry Library, Field Museum and related archieves.)
One hundred years after MacNeil make the trip and completed the piece, Joe Di Gregorio, (Gallup businessman and grocer), stepped in to rescue the Manuelito statue. It was badly needing repair and being stored in a warehouse going up for sale. Leslie Linchicum of the Albuquerque Journal relays this account in her March 2010 story:
“Longtime Gallup grocer Joe Di Gregorio and his wife, Christine, own the statue. They took custody after the building’s owner, in negotiations to sell to an out-of state buyer in 1983, turned to Di Gregorio and whispered, “Don’t let the bastards take the Indian.” Di Gregorio didn’t. He agreed to take custody of Manuelito and promised to keep him in Gallup.” [“Navajo Leader Stands Tall” Albuquerque Journal, March 11, 2010]
Now 116 years after MacNeil’s visit, McKinley County Fine Arts Commission in Gallup, NM is restoring the nearly 9 foot fragile artwork that MacNeil built in an outdoor tent. “Carolyn Milligan, chairwoman of the … Commission, has estimated that it will cost $25,000 to $38,000 to restore the sculpture, which has deteriorated from a hundred years of rail yard soot, showers with a fire hose and a well-meaning but inept repainting.”
Milligan continues, “The 1,000-pound piece is fragile, …. Wherever it stands, she said, it will probably attract crowds.” “It’s really quite a commanding piece,” Milligan said. “And it’s for the people.”
BEST WORDS OF THE DAY: “Don’t let the bastards take the Indian.” MacNeil and Manuelito would probably smile to hear those words. While virtually all of the ‘staff plaster’ sculptures of the World Fairs have crumbled to dust, Manuelito still stands tall.
After all, he does belong to the people, centuries of people, both Native and otherwise.
THAT’s WHY I BELIEVE THAT: MacNeil’s embrace of Native American themes in his sculpting from 1895-1905 still offers us lessons in culture, anthropology and life values for the 21st Century.
MORE HISTORY:
1.) For further irony read my previous stories of the making of Hermon MacNeil’s 1895 sculpture representing Chief Manuelito of the Navajo or read history of this Chief of the Navajo starting here.
2.) William Wroth’s “Long Walk” to Bosque Redondo also provides poignant insight into this period of the United States management of Native American peoples and the life of Chief Manuelito who was part of that “Long Walk” and signed the treaty of 1868 that sought to restore Navajo lands after the disastrous interventions of the US government.
3.) “The Long Walk” A Ten (10) Part video story of the Navajo “Fearing Time” accounting atrocities against the Navajo people from 1863 to 1868. Researched and produced with support of the George S. and Delores Dore’ Eccles Foundation and the Pacific Mountain Network. Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10.
4.) “The Long Walk” For a Navajo perspective view this video by Nanebah, whose great-great grandmother survived “The Long Walk”.
5.) “300 Miles – Or Long Walk Of The Navajo – Richard Stepp” For a musical tribute with an ‘American Indian Movement’ perspective.
6.) Leslie Linthicum, staff writer for the Albuquerque Journal, gives a delightful article, “Navajo Leader Stands Tall”. It offers historical irony from our 21st Century on attitudes toward Native American culture through her story of the ‘management’ and ‘preservation’ of MacNeil’s iconic statue of Chief Manuelito.
Related posts:
- 1901 Pan-American Exposition – Buffalo, New York ~~ “The Rainbow City” (10.3)
- MacNeil Sculpture “Meets Me in St. Louis” (20)
- Expositions and World’s Fairs ~ Hermon A. MacNeil (15.6)
- MacNeil at the 1893 Columbian Exposition ~ ~ ~ THE CHICAGO YEARS ~ ~ (10.8)
- https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/2011/03/26/1904-louisiana-purchase-exposition-saint-louis-worlds-fair/
Related Images:
Dec
01
MacNeil’s ‘Chief Manuelito’ Honored
Posted by: | CommentsStatue Adopted by McKinley County as a ‘Gallup Icon’
An improvised art creation of ‘Chief Manuelito’ made 115 years ago by Hermon Macneil at the request of trader/ merchant, C. N. Cotton, will be given a place of public honor by officials of Gallup, New Mexico.
- MacNeil’s “Chief Manuelito” will soon be placed in honor at McKinley County Courthouse. [2010 Gallup Independent/ Cable Hoover]
In July, the statue’s owner, Joe DiGregiorio, met with McKinley County Commissioners and told them that he wanted to give the statue to the county because “of its importance to the history of Gallup.”
According to Carolyn Milligan (chair of the McKinley County Fine Arts Committee) the MacNeil “Chief Manuelito” statue has survived a century of weathering, several paintings and a variety of repairs. The piece has been moved temporarily to Santa Fe for professional restoration. Milligan chaired the committee that recommended that the county commission recieve Joe DiGregiorio’s gift and restore the art piece properly. She informed me recently of the following:
“I have seen interim reports of the conservation process and plan to visit the work in progress this coming Thursday. Manuelito will soon reside in our new courthouse annex overlooking the plaza.”
MacNeil had made it one summer around the turn of the century when he was “doing the West,” for the Santa Fe Railroad. Old Man Cotton, an Indian trader, came in and wanted to talk to the sculptor. He showed Hermon a photograph of Manuelito (who had just died) and asked if he could work from it. Macneil said “of course.” He called Mr. Cotton in when he had finished, asking it the sculpture was OK. He said he would see. He let a Navajo woman into the room and closed the door. She came out a few minutes later, crying, Macneil said Cotton said it was OK ( the woman was Manuelito’s widow). http://www.gallupindependent.com/2007/june/062807gbda_gl%5Blndmrkchfmn.html
Bill Donovan, a correspondent for the Gallup Independent, tells us that the Chief Manuelito statue has greeted gallup citizens from his glass enclosure on the front of the Old Cotton Warehouse (Zanios Foods) north of the Sante Fe Railroad track for several decades.
The statue’s historical and cultural importance is evident to Zanios’ manager, Martin Romine: “He’s right outside of my office,” said Martin Romine, manager of Zanios. “People like to come and tell their children and grandchildren about Chief Manuelito. We have lots of chairs in the lobby and the public is welcome. The hours we are open are 8-5 on Monday through Friday, 8-4 on Saturday, and Zanios is closed Sunday. There are information posters on the wall around the sculpture, explaining the history of the building and the art piece.
An “icon” can be defined as an object of great attention and devotion, an image, a representation or picture of a sacred or sanctified personage. Clearly, the “Chief Manuelito” has become a cultural focal point and gathering place for teaching heritage to generations of residents and visitors of the Gallup community.
We believe that Hermon A. MacNeil would be proud that his efforts have been so influential and inspiring over a century later.
Related Images:
Nov
30
MacNeil Statue of Chief Manuelito Being Restored
Posted by: | CommentsProfessor Carolyn Milligan has informed us that the 115 year old statue of Navajo Chief Manuelito will again be on public display in Gallup New Mexico. Sculpted by Hermon Atkins MacNeil in 1895, the 8 foot, 3 inch likeness of the respected Navajo warrior and leader has become a gathering point of cultural pride for citizens and visitors alike. We were recently contacted by Carolyn Milligan, Associate Professor Emeritus, UNM in Gallup, NM, who is the Chair of the McKinley County Fine Arts Committee. She writes:
“Our large sculpture is currently in Santa Fe undergoing a much-needed restoration. I have seen interim reports of the conservation process and plan to visit the work in progress this coming Thursday. Manuelito will soon reside in our new courthouse annex overlooking the plaza.” She further states, “I am contacting you because last year I recommended the County accept a gift from a local businessman who had offered a monumental sculpture of the historic Navajo warrior and later tribal leader, Manuelito. Hermon Atkins MacNeil created this posthumous memorial to Manuelito, commissioned by C.N.Cotton, a wealthy trader with the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni people and who is credited with establishing the national market for Navajo weaving. In the summer of 1895 MacNeil traveled to the Southwest in search of more American Indians. (He found a lot more here than in Chicago!) It was during that trip that MacNeil met Cotton and created the sculpture which then resided in a high niche at the front of Cotton’s store. For a century Manuelito was the visual marker for all travelling on the train that they had arrived in Gallup.”
In July 2010, the McKinley County published a “Request for Proposals (RFP’s) No. 2010-24 for Conservation, Restoration, Including Consultation on Maintenance Plan Moving and Installing for Herman Atkins MacNeil’s CHIEF MANUELITO Sculpture, Gallup, New Mexico”. The proposal describes the sculpture as follows:
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2007/june/062807gbda_gl%5Blndmrkchfmn.html”]”]
The sculpture is a larger than life, polychromed figure of Chief Manuelito (1818–1894), a respected Navajo warrior and leader. It is constructed of gypsum plaster over a wood and metal armature. It was created by Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866–1947), a prominent sculptor, who created many cast bronze public monuments of historic figures in New York City, Chicago, and on the east pediment of the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. MacNeil’s interest in Native American culture brought him to the Southwest as an artist commissioned by the railroad to produce artworks based upon the Native cultures of the Southwest. While in Gallup, MacNeil met C.N.Cotton, a prosperous Gallup trader, who is credited with creating the national market for Navajo rugs. Cotton and Manuelito had been friends. In 1895, (the year following Manuelito’s death from measles and pneumonia), Cotton commissioned MacNeil (and paid him in Navajo rugs) to create this dignified tribute to his friend Manuelito, shown draped in a chief blanket and wearing turquoise nuggets strung around his neck and suspended from his earlobes. The sculpture was planned for, and installed in a high niche on the east façade of the C.N.Cotton store and warehouse, an adobe building adjacent to the Santa Fe Railway tracks in downtown Gallup. For nearly a century the dignified figure of Manuelito was a familiar visual marker to all who traded with C.N. Cotton of his friendship with one of the Navajo’s most respected leaders but the figure also announced to those traveling from the east that they had arrived in Gallup, New Mexico.
Professor Milligan was very complimentary. “I was very happy to discover your website on Hermon Atkins MacNeil. And I am even more curious about what inspired your interest in this remarkable sculptor.I have been researching Hermon Atkins MacNeil for several months now and I, too was impressed by our MacNeil sculpture when I was first asked to evaluate it close up and make a recommendation to the County regarding the offer of this wonderful gift. It stands 8′ 3″ and is a polychromed image of Manuelito majestically wrapped in a patterned Chief’s blanket.”
We thank Chair Milligan, the Fine Arts Council, the County of McKinley, and the citizens of Gallup, NM for their pride, interest and commitment to the preservation of this early work of H. A. MacNeil.
More to come on this latest discovery.
Related Images:
Oct
09
BLACK PIPE, the SIOUX, Returns to South Dakota on “Native American Day” ~ ~
Posted by: | Comments2023
After 130 years, Black Pipe, the Sioux, has returned to South Dakota, on “Native American Day” ~ ~ now “Indigenous Peoples Day.”
“BLACK PIPE, THE SIOUX, AT SIX TEEN YEARS.” These words are what MacNeil wrote on this bronze roundlette, a bas-relief, circa 1894.
This piece, one of only two known to exist, [CLICK HERE for the other] 
dates to 1894 and was possibly cast in bronze by its sculptor:
Hermon MacNeil
Now it resides in
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA
at the home of the webmaster.
Hermon MacNeil’s BLACK PIPE work was a product of lean days. Following the closing of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, both artists and Fair workers had tough times. In 1894, Hermon found himself “stranded” in Chicago.
For a while, he earned meals in exchange for drawing sketches of patrons in a Chicago restaurant. (He learned that livelihood while traveling through France years before). Eventually, his prospects would begin to improve.
Fifty years later after a lifetime of sculpting, remembering that era of his life, he wrote:
“I finished my work at the “Chicago Fair” and it (The Fair) was a great success. The best combination of buildings in the then prevalent classic style, ever put together for any Fair.
I took a small studio in Chicago and tried to see if I could make a go of it. C. F. Browne was also stranded there and I invited him to share the studio with me. During that year (evenings) I was asked to teach sculpture and drawing in the School of the Art Institute and also had the good fortune to have four bas-reliefs to do illustrating the life of Pere Marquette.” [Autobiographical Sketch, Hermon Atkins MacNeil, June 1943, page 5.]
The Indian had caught Hermon’s fancy. Beginning with Buffalo Bill Cody’s “Wild West Show” just outside the gate of the Chicago Fair, MacNeil saw Cody’s dramatic spectacle many times. He always carried a sketch book and drew whatever he saw.
Black Pipe later became the model for Primitive Indian Music.
FINDING BLACK PIPE:
One day walking down Adams Street, Hermon recognized a really long haired Indian looking down and out walking along the sidewalk. He looked hungry and cold. Hermon had sketched many Indians while attending Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.
“So I stopped and chatted with him and found he was stranded.” Mac brought him to the studio, warmed him, fed him and began modeling him. In four hours, MacNeil had made a full head profile relief, and titled it Black Pipe, the Sioux at Six Teen Years.
Like many other artists of the time, Hermon sculpted what he saw. This Indian had indeed “caught his fancy.”
Chicago. In fact, 1985, in general, had been a productive year for the sculptor. MacNeil had found Black Pipe, (the Sioux from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show), cold and hungry on the streets of Chicago. He took him in as studio help and a model for future sculptures. That vision of Black Pipe remained in Hermon’s artistic memory and appeared again many times.
For October 2023,
BLACK PIPE
will be the featured theme of
upcoming posts
Related Posts:
Related Images:
Aug
12
SOLD! ~ MacNeil’s “Chief” sells for $351,000
Posted by: | Comments~ MacNeil “Chief of Multnomah” ~
Earns Surprising Sale Price!
A 37 inch half-height copy of
Hermon MacNeil’s
“Chief of the Multnomah”
sold for a WORLD Record at
The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction
Reno, Nevada
Estimated sale price was in the range of
$30,000-50,000
The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction Image of the 37 inch version of the MacNeil piece.
“A CHIEF OF THE MULTNOMAH TRIBE”(1905)Hermon Atkins MacNeilIn 2021 the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction offered an artwork for sale by Hermon Atkins MacNeil.Actual Sale Price:$351,000Title:A Chief of the Multnomah Tribe(1905)Type: SculptureMedium: BronzeStyle: OtherSubject: Western/IndianSignature: Signed and DatedSize: 37.00″ x 12.00″Foundry Mark: Roman Bronze Works N-Y-Description: Estimate $30,000-50,000.SOLD FOR $351,000 ~ A WORLD-RECORD
AT THE COEUR D’ALENE ART AUCTION-RENO!Now taking consignments for our 2022 auction.For more information please call 208.772.9009 or
“Coming of the White Man” original clay model 72 inches high at the Poppenhusen Institute in College Point, Queens, New York.
This “Chief of the Mulnomah Tribe” was a 37″ statue.
It was half the height
of the 74″
Chief
sculpted for the original
“Coming of the
White Man”
seen at right ==>
in the original clay model
now at the
Poppenhusen Institute
in College Point where MacNeil donated it before his death.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Chief of the Multnomah”
Here are MORE Postings on this site:
1).
Another of Hermon MacNeil’s “Chief of the Multnomah” Discovered in Vernon, New Jersey Posted on May, 31, 2015
Another Chief of the Multnomah
I’ve been noticing a magnificent piece of the scultpture for the past few years, located in Vernon N.J. at the Minerals Spa and Resort. After closer examination I discovered it is Chief Multnomah with his arms crossed, standing on tip toes looking outward. “The coming of the white man” is the title usually ascribed to this work, but in this case the chief stands alone without his scout or assistant as pictured on your web-site. It is signed simply, H.A. Macneil S.C. 04. Just thought it was a variation of the piece that you might find interesting.I’m not really sure how long its been there, because I’m relatively new to the area. Being a sculptor myself and one that is particularly fond on the late 19th cent/early 20th cent period, with the likes of Rodin, Bayre, Dega, etc. Macneil certainly is a strong and salutory member of that period. Regards, D. Moldoff.
My response was as follows:
Dear D. L. Moldoff,
Thanks for noticing sculpture around you and sharing the information. The ‘Chief Multnomah’ is the larger Half of H. A. MacNeil’s “The Coming of the White Man.” (COTWM). While the COTWM piece is only at the Washington Park in Portland, OR, where it was commissioned for that city. The original plaster sculpture model is in the Poppenhusen Institute in Queens, NYC, just blocks from MacNeil’s studio.
2).
“Chief of the Multnomah” ~ DO WE HAVE ONE? ~ ??????? Posted on Dec 21, 2013
In the Summer of 2013, I received an email from Linette Porter-Metler of the Mount Vernon and Knox County Library of Mount Vernon, Ohio. She enclosed the photos you see below.
Linette entitled her email,
“DO WE HAVE ONE?”
Here is what she said:
Thanks for your website!
We are a four-library public library system in Central Ohio. All year, we have been celebrating our 125th Anniversary here as a public library in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and during our research we found that one of our sculptures donated to us in 1936 by a Dr. Freeman Ward may be one of The Chief of the Multnomah statues shown on your site. But it does have some differences as you can see by the photo compared to the one on your site at the New York museum.
Ours does not seem to have a number stating it was one of the copies (i.e. 4/20)..All it has is his name, the word “Multnomah”, and the number “03” etched on the side of his footrest. I will send photos. Also, there is a copper? Twisted piece at top of bow near his shoulder.
I will enclose as many photos as I can. If you have any further information to share with us about this, we would appreciate it!
Thanks!
Linette Porter-Metler, Community Relations / Public Affairs, Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, 201 N. Mulberry Street, Mount Vernon, OHIO
My answer is simply:
YES, MT. VERNON,
YOU HAVE ONE !
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
3).
Another “Chief of the Multnomah” Has Appeared in the East. Posted on Nov, 10, 2011
One of MacNeil’s “Chief of the Multnomah Tribe”, (which has seen a lot in American history since 1904, and even more since “The Coming of the White Man”) still stands guard silently over a once $25,000,000 estate in Easton, MD, known as Hidden Bridge Farm. The future of both the “Chief” and the Estate remain uncertain. The waterfront playground property is now locked in Chapter 7 bankruptcy being handled by Easton attorney, James Vidmar.
These photos show “A Chief of the Multnomah” as he overlooks the Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. This same MacNeil statue featured in the previous posting on Nov. 8, 2011 was once owned by John A. Porter.
A source has told us that the “Chief” was placed as the centerpiece on this 540-acre Estate by “John A. Porter.” Porter achieved front page fame as the former CEO of Worldcom before its colossal collapse in 2000-2. The scandal brought Worldcom into the news as the “Enron” of the tele-communication industry.
Daniela Deane, House Gossip for the Washington Post, described the situation in 2002 in this way:
Hidden Bridge Farm, a 540-acre spread with five houses on it, is for sale for $26.5 million — about $16.5 million more than any other property has sold for on the Eastern Shore. The farm sits on 1.5 miles of waterfront on the Choptank River, about 10 miles southwest of Easton.
Besides the 10,000-square-foot all-brick manor house, the property also has a waterfront farmhouse, a 3,000-square-foot guest house, a caretaker’s house, a guest cottage and two two-bedroom … Source: [ Daniela Deane. “House gossip; Eastern Shore Estate Asks a Record Price.” The Washington Post. Washingtonpost Newsweek Interactive. 2002. Retrieved November 08, 2011 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-325206 ]
Deane’s story details one of the holdings of John A. Porter who was worth over $500,000,000 in 1999. Now, however, he is broke. After loosing the Maryland property and “Chief Multnomah,” he has had to scale down to a 10,000 sq foot ocean-front mansion in Palm Beach. That little homestead retreat is worth much less than Hidden Bridge only about $17,000,000. Fortunately, Florida has a generous “Homestead Act”, known by locals as the “mansion loophole” act.
Some folks suggest that you might be able to “buy the farm” for possibly $14 Million, once it comes on the market. The “Chief “ may (or may not) be included in the selling price.
4).
If MacNeil’s “Chiefs” Could Speak, What would They tell us Today? Posted on Nov 13, 2011
.
(Photo by Elizabeth Daley, Queens Chronicle) Posted on June 1, 2011
A recent estate auction featured a “Chief of the Multnomah” which is the right-hand half of the “Coming of the White Man” pair.
“Everything Must Go” was a feature story in the “Queens Chronicle” by Elizabeth Daley, editor (March 11, 2011). Michael Halberian lived in the former Steinway Family Mansion. It is uncertain whether the MacNeil sculpture was a Steinway heirloom that sold with the mansion or whether Mike discovered it in his appraisal work.
The Poppenhusen Institute houses this plaster model of “A Chief of the Multnomah” donated in 1920 by MacNeil. It represents half of the “Coming of the White Man” grouping comissioned in 1904 for the City of Portland, Oregon by the family of David P. Thompson. (photo courtesy of Bob Walker, College Point)
“A Chief of the Multnomah” is silent, but If he could only speak and share his observations of 150 years with the White Man
Related posts:
- Another of Hermon MacNeil’s “Chief of the Multnomah” Discovered in Vernon, New Jersey (7) Hermon MacNeil’s “Chief of the Multnomah” was cast in full…
- Hermon MacNeil ~ Postcard ~ 2012 MacNeil Month #1 ~ “Coming of the White Man” (6) February is “MacNeil Month at HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com Feb 27th, 2012 is…
- MacNeil Sculptures at Metropolitan Museum of Art — NYC: “The American West in Bronze, 1850-1925” (6) Several sculptures of Hermon Atkins MacNeil are featured in a…
- MacNeil Statue of Chief Manuelito Being Restored (5) Professor Carolyn Milligan has informed us that the 115 year…
- MacNeil Postcard #3 ~ ‘From Chas. Aug 24, 1907’ (5) This month’s MacNeil postcard again features the “Coming of the…
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May
17
Moody Bust sculpted during 1919 Flu Pandemic
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Hermon MacNeil sculpted this bust of Dwight L. Moody a century ago during the Flu Pandemic of 1919.
One hundred years later (In 2019), I visited that MacNeil work in Sage Chapel on site at the Moody’s Northfield Seminary.
The photo below records that visit. ↓
Dwight L. Moody by Hermon MacNeil (1919). The century-old work rests Sage Chapel on site at the Moody’s Northfield Seminary.
On June 6, 1919, Northfield paid Honors to Moody at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Founder’s Day in East Northfield, Mass.
The four days of celebration included:
- A Reception at the home of Principal C. E. Dickerson, Tuesday evening, marked the close of the commencement exercises and celebration of the 40th anniversary of the funding of Northfield Seminary.
- The Reunion of nearly five hundred former students and friends returned to Northfield.
- The occasion honored the founder, Dwight L. Moody.
- Moody’s youngest granddaughter, Margaret Moody, unveiled the portrait bust by pulling the draping off of her grandfather’s bronze likeness.
- Little Margaret is the daughter of Chaplain Paul D. Moody, son of D. L. Moody and Head of Chaplains for the Allied Expeditionary Force (A.E.F).
- The bust is the gift of the alumnae and has graced Sage Memorial Chapel for over a century.
- Hermon MacNeil of New York sculpted the bust from a pencil drawing he made of Mr. Moody when the evangelist was in the vigor of his powers and from a death mask provided by the school.
- MacNeil made the sketches at The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Moody organized Sunday worship services held in the stadium built by William Cody for his “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.” NO SUNDAY SHOWS were allowed at the Fair. So, Moody rented it from Cody on Sundays and packed it with fair attenders and local pastors and their congregationschurch
- It was presented by Mrs. Helen M. Williams of New York City, President of the board of trustees of the Northfield schools. Another token of the esteem in which Northfield graduates hold their alma mater was the gift of $600 from the class of 1914.
This digital file of the article from the September 1919 issue of the Northfield Alumnae Chronicle is a treasure trove of background information.
- The bust was a gift of the Alumnae Association. Many small donations.
- Johnson’s presentation speech cites conversations with MacNeil. It is a wonderful piece of Northfield history and affection for Mr. Moody 20 years after his death. .
- MacNeil attended one of D. L. Moody’s Meetings in Chicago ( MacNeil was there between 1890-95).
- MacNeil made a hasty sketch of Moody at that meeting. He kept his sketch for years.
- MacNeil created the bust of Moody and afterward told the alumnae (Mrs. Johnson (?)) the story of making the sketch.
- The bust was presented at a service in Sage Chapel.
SOURCES:
- Lost New England (retrieved 4-17-2021) [https://lostnewengland.com/category/massachusetts/northfield-massachusetts/]
East Northfield, Mass. June 6, (1919) - ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE. Saturday, June 7, 1919
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Dec
10
MacNeil Christmas Cards
Posted by: | CommentsHermon MacNeil often made Christmas Cards that featured his own drawings and studio images.
MacNeil Christmas card from 1922.
Here’s a Card from 1922 ==>>
This pencil sketch proclaiming “Merry Christmas 1922” appears reminiscent of MacNeil’s 
“Sun Vow” 
In that composition, a Native Chief, possibly Sioux, coaches a young warrior through a rite of passage — shooting an arrow into the of the sun.
In MacNeil’s 1922 Christmas drawing, a similar pair of figures wave a banner of seasons greetings. Their presence seems a reprise of the Sun Vow sculpture.
While that was over a century ago, here’s what we can know today:
- We know being an artist, MacNeil often carried and kept sketchbooks.
- We know he would sit in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with his sketchbook.
- We know he sketched D. L Moody at an interdenominational Sunday Worship in Wild Bill’s Arena (since no Sunday shows were allowed and Moody rented the venue).
- We know he traveled, sketched and sculpted on his trip to the Southwest territories in 1895 (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado).
- We know he formed clay and plaster images there; and he shipped many back to Chicago.
- We know that his memory of Native images dominated his sculptures for the next ten years.
I suspect that the idea for this card sprang up from the artist’s visual memory, perhaps, revived from an old sketchbook. A dusty record of images that he first saw three decades earlier at the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Here’s More from this website:
“Native American Themes: His first introduction to native subjects came through Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. During the 1893 Worlds Fair, Buffalo Bill’s troupe performed in a carnival setting outside the main entrance. Fascinated, MacNeil’s artist-eye and imagination took every opportunity to see the show and sketch the ceremonies and rituals of Indian life — MacNeil often carried a sketch book. He latter befriended Black Pipe, a Sioux warrior from the show, who he found down-and-out on the Chicago streets after the carnival midways of the Fair had closed. MacNeil invited Black Pipe to model for him and assist in studio labors, which he did for over a year. Inspired by these native subjects and encouraged by Edward Everett Ayers, MacNeil found a respect for this vanishing Native culture and made subsequent trips to the southwest. When the Marquette Building was constructed, MacNeil was awarded a commission to complete Four Bas Relief Panels of over the main entrance. His work depicts four scenes from Marquette’s trip through the Great Lakes region.”
“In the summer of 1895, along with Hamlin Garland (a writer) and C. F. Browne (a painter), he traveled to the four-corners territories (now, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah) seeing American Indians (Navajo, and Moqui — now Hopi) in their changing cultural element on various reservations. While there, he was asked to sculpt, out of available materials, a likeness of Chief Manuelito. The Navajo warrior had died in despair after being imprisoned for four years as a renegade by the U. S. Government (Col. Kit Carson) twenty-five years earlier. Manuelito’s likeness (click here), made of available materials, brought tears to his widow’s eyes, and remains an object of cultural pride in Gallup, New Mexico to this day.” SOURCE: Click HERE
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Oct
21
The Hamlin Garland Memorial Highway ~
Brown County, South Dakota
Hamlin Garland https://mypoeticside.com/wp-content/uploads/gallery-images/e6845fc.jpeg
Hamlin Garland Highway in Brown County South Dakota.
[Credit: Hamlin Garland Society]
In June 1936, the Brown County Commissioners named a section of Brown County Highway 11, for a total of 10 miles, the “Hamlin Garland Memorial Highway.” This section travels past the homestead of Garland’s father, Richard, who homesteaded in 1881. In 1998, new signs were placed along this stretch of paved road noting the name of the highway.
[ Hamlin Garland Society of Aberdeen, SD http://www.garlandsociety.org/ ]
Hamlin Garland Highway in South Dakota.
GARLAND TOWNSHIP–This township was named after Hamlin Garland, a novelist, who lived in this area with his pioneer parents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Garland. The land south and west of Columbia [and Ordway] was immortalized by this writer in “Among the Corn Rows,” and “A Son of the Middle Border.”
SOURCE: Information courtesy of Gene Aisenbrey ~ Hamlin Garland Society of Aberdeen, SD Contact: garlandsociety@gmail.com Copyright © 2015
Garland information on the web:
In 1895 HAMLIN GARLAND led Hermon MacNeil and Francis Brown to the four corners area (AZ, NM, CO, UT) to witness the Native American people and culture there.
-
Hamlin Garland Highway in South Dakota. [SOURCE: Information courtesy of Gene Aisenbrey ~ Hamlin Garland Society of Aberdeen, SD ~ Contact: garlandsociety@gmail.com Copyright © 2015 ]
- Hamlin Garland Biography (Wisconsin Authors and Their Works)
- A Biography of three pages
- One of Garland’s Grant Interviews with Julia Dent Grant (1826-1902) widow of General U. S. Grant
- SD Historical Society: “Hamlin Garland’s South Dakota: History and Story” https://www.sdhspress.com/journal/south-dakota-history-9-3/hamlin-garlands-dakota-history-and-story/vol-09-no-3-hamlin-garlands-dakota.pdf
- A brief Garland bio (Al Filreis)
~ A Poem by Hamlin Garland ~
“Do you fear the force of the wind,
The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them,
Be savage again.
Go hungry and cold like the wolf,
Go wade like the crane:
The palms of your hands will thicken,
The skin of your cheek will tan,
You’ll grow ragged and weary and swarthy,
But you’ll walk like a man!”
Their adventure in 1895 led into Native settlements in Colorado, Arizona (Moqui, Navajo), New Mexico, and Utah:
- Hamlin Garland, led the tour to the southwest in the summer of 1895. MacNeil & Browne wanted to gain direct experience of American Indians to inform their art. What the trio found reflected in their respective painting, sculpture and writing.
- MacNeil sculpted a cement statue of Chief Manuelito for trader C. N. Cotton under a tent in the dessert. His subsequent sculptures of Native Americans after that summer of 1895 continued his cultural interest. That fascination began with his friendship and sculpting of Black Pipe, the Sioux warrior. He first met Black Pipe at the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The Sioux modeled for MacNeil and later worked in his studio for over a year before MacNeil’s trip with Garland.
- Charles Francis Browne was a painter and friend (his room mate in Paris) who accompanied Hermon MacNeil and the author.
- Edward Everett Ayers was an art patron to both MacNeil and Browne. He had been a Civil War Calvary officer stationed in the southwestern United States. He became a lumberman who made a fortune selling railroad ties and telephone poles. He urged MacNeil to travel to see the vanishing West of the American Indian. He became an arts benefactor whose art collections are now housed by the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as, the Newberry Library. His copy of MacNeil’s “Moqui Runner” still graces the Newberry Library.
Related Posts:
Related Images:
Aug
16
Attention to Detail ~ “The Pony Express” ~ by H. A. MacNeil
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“The Pony Express” heads West into the setting sun. MacNeil loved to study the site and setting for his works so he could place them into their unique Horizon as this dramatic shot highlights.
On first viewing, the sculptures of Hermon MacNeil express amazing beauty and gracefulness. A second and third viewing reveals MacNeil’s careful inclusion of unique details connected to the subjects, objects and historical periods that he sought to portray in bronze and stone.
In sculpting a befitting monument to the “Pony Express” in 1940, Hermon MacNeil showed his abiding attention to detail. Studying this “last” public monument reveals a series of actions he completed in preparing and perfecting his final product:
- He found a suitable “stallion” as his model.
- The charger he found was a rescued “wild mustang” from the plains of the North Dakota (Teddy Roosevelt country). The steed was used as a rodeo “bucking bronco” and named after the Mexican outlaw, Poncho Villa.
- Hermon referred to the animal as “glorious horse flesh”. This was the musculature that he immortalized in bronze. For the last 80 years it’s been heading West out of downtown Saint Joseph, Missouri, just a few blocks from the Pony Express Station of the 1860’s.
- The back story of “Poncho Villa” this outlaw mustang from North Dakota by way Madison Square Gardens is a prime example
- He became friends with a physician nicknamed the “cowboy doctor”.
- The man was Dr. S. Meredith Strong of Flushing, NY, a neighboring community to College Point where MacNeil lived and had his studio.
- Dr. Strong was devoted to the preservation of “wild mustangs” from the prairies.
- Strong was president of the American Rough Riders, “an organization devoted to the preservation of the horse, and especially the native wild pony.”
- MacNeil studied the history of the Pony Express.
- He did this by visiting St. Joseph, Missouri where the Pony Express Museum is located and by evaluating the site designated for the monument.
- He also had Dr. Strong’s interest, knowledge and fervor to instruct him.
Theatrically, MacNeil had his own fascination fueled by attending the “Buffalo Bill Wild West Show” at the Chicago Worlds Fair (Columbian Exposition). Buffalo Bill Cody included a re-enactment of a Pony Express ride as a regular dramatization during his shows. He himself claimed to be a rider, though some dispute that assertion.
- The photos below show the actual clay model taken from his studio after his death in 1947. The broken forelegs and head show the wire structure that the clay was modeled on.
- I took these photos in the archives of the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, IN. MacNeil built a wire frame on which he constructed his clay model of the horse.
- Swope Art Museum has remnants of H. A. MacNeil’s small clay models of larger statues salvaged from his studio and storage after his death.
- Wire frames were a standard practice for constructing clay statue figures of larger proportions.
- FOR EXAMPLE: His Manuelito Statue in Gallup, NM was made in 1895 of cement over a wire frame. It has been restored.
- NOTE: I have yet to visit Gallup and see the restored Manuelito statue.
MacNeil was a natural talent as an artist. His training helped him perfect those innate skills. By their nature sculptors must be talented artists. Those skills start early in life. They include
- a visual attention to detail.
- Visual imaging and proportions.
- an ability to capture and reproduce the essence of a object and form.
From there the process becomes quite meticulous. Phases involved can be described as including:
Model of a Pony Express saddle similar to Dr. Strong’s collection and what MacNeil depicted on his Monument. (Compare actual photo of MacNeil’s work below:)
- detailed observation;
- research;
- historical accuracy;
- design and balance;
- construction;
- inclusion of details and symbols.
The Long Island Star heralded “Poncho Villa”, his rescuer, Dr. Strong, and Hermon MacNeil’s mastery of sculptural detail in the following narration:
“Watch Out. Pard! Dr. Strong acquired Poncho from the rodeo after it broke up in New York, just as he did his last “pet.” The outlaw put six men in the hospital before the physician was able to gain its confidence after months of patient work. But even today the pony is a one-man animal. He is a gentle as a lamb when the doctor is around, but let a stranger come near – if you don’t care what happens to the stranger!
Fittingly enough for a horse that modeled for the Pony Express statue, Poncho has red, white and blue markings. The gun, holster, spurs, belt and other accessories sculptured in the replica are all relics which Dr. Strong brought from New Mexico.” (From the Long Island Star, Tuesday November 19, 1940)
Details of the mail bags as MacNeil modeled them after Dr. Strong’s authentic Pony Express gear from the 1930’s.
Related posts:
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Jul
26
Society of Medalist #3 ~ Hopi ~ Prayer for Rain ~ by Hermon A. MacNeil
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Rarest of the Rare! A very rare Silver – Society of Medalists #3 – by ‘H. A. MacNeil’ (in lower right).
It is “Silver.”
Only twenty-five were minted in 1931.
In the summer of 1895, Hermon MacNeil traveled to the Southwest. With Hamlin Garland and Charles Francis Browne, they journey by railroad to the four-corners region of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
With Garland as guide the sculptor and the artist witnessed Native American culture first hand. They visited the Hopi and Navajo reservations immersed in Native American life. They saw the “Prayer for Rain” ~ the Snake Dance ceremony depicted here on the SOM #3.
The “Prayer for Rain” depicts the Moqui (Hopi) runner carrying the snakes to the river to activate the rain cycle of nature. [SOM #3 Reverse]
ONLY 25 were made in SILVER (99.9%).
The Silver issue of MacNeil’s medallion is among the rarest of the rare.
Over sixty-times that number were struck in Bronze (1,713). Now nearly eight decades later, those are more common, but also rare and collectible. [See pictured below — at the end of this article — this author’s collection of the varied Bronze patinas of S.O.M #3.]
The next year (1932), Frederick MacMonnies sculpted a medallion celebrating Charles A. Lindbergh historic flight. 250 of those medallions were struck in Silver. That makes the Lindbergh issue ten times more common than MacNeil’s “Hopi”. (10 X 25) —
Silver minting of most SOM Issues quantities usually ranged from 50 to 125. Most often 100 silver specimens were struck. SO the 25 of the MACNEIL’S “Prayer for Rain” creations are twice as rare and up to 10 times as rare as other SOM Issues.
This, all Society of Medalists (SOM) in Silver can be considered rare. However, this MacNeil piece is definitely “THE RAREST OF THE RARE!”
This images that MacNeil’s placed of the Obverse and Reverse had been burned in his visual memory in 1895. They lived in his artist’s awareness for decades. It is no stretch to say that they inspired numerous sculptures and pieces that came out of his studio.
“The Moqui Runner,” “The Primitive Chant,” were “living” in his mind when he first saw these scenes. Then, three decades later, he chose them for his own theme and design. Thus, the 1931 Society of Medalists Issue #3 became his offering to this young series by American Sculptors.
The following are just a few of the sculptures and monuments, which re-capture some of the Native American culture and history first observed in this 1895 trip to the Hopi (Moqui) people.
- 1894 “Primitive Indian Music” ~ family heirloom
- 1895 “Chief Manuelito” statue ~Gallup, New Mexico
- 1897 “The Moqui Runner” Modeled 1896, Cast 1897
- 1901 “Primitive Chant to the Great Spirit” ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum – Washington, DC
- 1901 “Sun Vow” Art Institute of Chicago
- 1901 “Sun Vow” Metropolitan Museum ~NYC
- 1903 “Chief of the Multnomah Tribe”, Met Museum, NYC
- 1904 “The Coming of the White Man #2” ~ Queens, NYC ~ Poppenhusen
- 1904 “The Coming of the White Man” ~ Portland
By comparison, the SOM’s issued from:
- 1930 to 1944. ~ struck 2X to 5X this quantity of SILVER medallions.
- 1945 to 1950. ~ those SOM silver issues were minted in quantities of 50 to 60.
- 1950 to 1972. ~ NO silver medallions were struck.
- 1973 to 1979. ~ Silver medallions ranged from 140-200.
- No Silver coins were struck from 1980-1995
- In 1995 the “Society of Medalists Series” closed production.
In 1931 design the the Society of Medalist medal #3, Hermon MacNeil chose to immortalize his memory of these images from 1895 in rare silver — 99.9% fine silver!
A Rare Beauty Indeed. Hi Ho, Silver !
MacNeil Display MacNeil Medallion (front and reverse) in Center. Framed by 10 SOM #3 (Obverse & reverse) of varied patinas. SOURCE: Collection of Webmaster
SOURCES:
Information taken from the six page list entitled: Medal Collectors of America; Checklist of “The Society of Medalists” Issues 1930 – Date. Originally written by D. Wayne Johnson with rights retained by him; used with permission.
His listing includes the original pricing supplied by Paul Bosco in the inaugural issue of the MCA’s publication “The Medal Cabinet” (Summer 2000) for the silver issues and Paul’s update values for the bronze pieces that appeared in the Spring/Summer 2002 edition of “The MCA Advisory.”
Related Images:
Nov
13
If MacNeil’s “Chiefs” Could Speak, What would They tell us Today?
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Silent for over a century since MacNeil sculpted him, this “Chief of the Multnomah” could probably tell us many volumes of stories about “The Coming of the White Man.
(Continued from Nov 10, 2011)
One of MacNeil’s “Chief of the Multnomah”, (which has seen a lot in American history since 1904, and even more since “The Coming of the White Man”) still stands guard silently over a once $25,000,000 estate in Easton, MD, known as Hidden Bridge Farm. The future of both the “Chief” and the Estate remain uncertain. The waterfront playground property is now locked in Chapter 7 bankruptcy being handled by Easton attorney, James Vidmar.
These photos show “A Chief of the Multnomah” as he overlooks the Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. This same MacNeil statue featured in the previous posting on Nov. 8, 2011 was once owned by John A. Porter.
A source has told us that the “Chief” was placed as the centerpiece on this 540-acre Estate by “John A. Porter.” Porter achieved front page fame as the former CEO of Worldcom before its colossal collapse in 2000-2. The scandal brought Worldcom into the news as the “Enron” of the tele-communication industry.
Daniela Deane, House Gossip for the Washington Post, described the situation in 2002 in this way:
Hidden Bridge Farm, a 540-acre spread with five houses on it, is for sale for $26.5 million — about $16.5 million more than any other property has sold for on the Eastern Shore. The farm sits on 1.5 miles of waterfront on the Choptank River, about 10 miles southwest of Easton.
Besides the 10,000-square-foot all-brick manor house, the property also has a waterfront farmhouse, a 3,000-square-foot guest house, a caretaker’s house, a guest cottage and two two-bedroom … Source: [ Daniela Deane. “House gossip; Eastern Shore Estate Asks a Record Price.” The Washington Post. Washingtonpost Newsweek Interactive. 2002. Retrieved November 08, 2011 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-325206 ]
Deane’s story details one of the holdings of John A. Porter who was worth over $500,000,000 in 1999. Now, however, he is broke. After loosing the Maryland property and “Chief Multnomah,” he has had to scale down to a 10,000 sq foot ocean-front mansion in Palm Beach. That little homestead retreat is worth much less than Hidden Bridge only about $17,000,000. Fortunately, Florida has a generous “Homestead Act”, known by locals as the “mansion loophole” act.
Some folks suggest that you might be able to “buy the farm” for possibly $14 Million, once it comes on the market. The “Chief “ may (or may not) be included in the selling price.
So, we may wonder, what might MacNeil’s two “Chiefs” say if they spoke to us 2011? If Multnomah and Manuelito could speak to the White Man after 150 years, what would they say?
- What might they tells us about men who think they “own the land?”
- What might they have seen of “human greed” from white men or red men and others?
- What might they know about “crooked treaties” or “cooked books?”
Chief Manuelito of the Navajo sculpted bu H A MacNeil in 1895
- How many ‘moons’ might it be before the next entry in the “Greatest-Corporate-Scandal-in-US- History Contest?”
- How many pension funds or villages will be raided and destroyed in the meantime?
WATCH ON, you CHIEFS!
For Further reading: other John A. Porter and Worldcom articles:
1. “Former WorldCom Chairman Finds Shelter in Homestead Exemption “
2. “In Florida, No Wolves at the Door”
3. “Corporate Strife Touched Florida”
Related Images:
Oct
08
Pan American Exposition Medal ~~~ 110 Years of Prized Beauty
Posted by: | CommentsImages of Hermon A. MacNeil’s sculpted medallion for the 1901 World’s Fair are as coveted today as they were 110 years ago. Here are three examples:
EXAMPLE #1 from 2010.
Below, a recent You Tube posting shares a trio of MacNeil’s beautiful Medals in Bronze, Silver and Gilt finishes. Thanks to Will of the American Association of Young Numismatists (AAYN) [See note #1 below], for making this video of these rare MacNeil medallions. Thanks as well, to website contributor and friend, Gibson Shell of Kansas City for his alert eye in finding this first beautiful example.
Mellin's Food Company of Boston, a maker of 'baby formua', touts their wars with the MacNeil image at center stage of their ad. "Baby formula' was a radically new idea in 1901. Their product had to compete with mother's breast milk, an already accepted product with a much longer history. The Gold Medal from the Pan American Exposition gave their new product a greater recognition for quality and acceptance.
EXAMPLE #2 from 1901.
Manufacturers were so proud of winning the Gold Medal at the Pan American Exhibition that they displayed it prominently on their advertisements. Here in the ad below, the Mellin Food Company of Boston, a maker of ‘baby formula’, touts their wares with the MacNeil image at center stage of their ad. “Baby formula’ was a radically new idea in 1901. Their product had to compete with mother’s breast milk, an already accepted product with a much longer history. The Gold Medal from the Pan American Exposition gave their new product a greater recognition for quality and acceptance.
EXAMPLE #3 from 1901.
Here is another Gold Medal winner. F. R. Pierson a horticulturist operating a nursery and greenhouse at Tarrytown-on-Hudson, N.Y., won Eight Gold Medals at the 1901 Buffalo World’s Fair. His advertisement states that this is, “the largest number awarded any firm on the Flori-culture Department.” The ad enumerates the company’s prize-winning selections of Rhododendrons, evergreens, roses, cannas, bay trees, fig-leaf palms and hydrangeas. AND of course it bears MacNeil’s Pan American Exposition Medallion prominently at the top corners of the advertisement. [CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]
CLICK TO ENLARGE - The W. R. Pierson Company's advertisement offers another example of the esteem with which manufacturers and businesses held the Gold Medal competitions over a century ago.
MACNEIL’S MEDALS
These MacNeil sculpture medals were made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Boston, a quality producer of fine silver since 1832.
CLOSE UP VIEWS.
Pictured below are near-life-size images of Hermon A. MacNeil’s sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exposition, held at Buffalo, NY in 1901. All award medals were struck from the same design whether in Bronze, Silver or Gold. These below are silver medals.
MacNeil's sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, NY 1901 (front)
MacNeil's sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, NY 1901 (reverse). All award medals were struck from the same design whether in Bronze, silver or gold. These are silver medals.
“PHYSICAL LIBERTY” 1904.
The buffalo image on the Obverse face of this medallion bears a resemblance to a MacNeil work he made three years later. That larger-than-life sculpture at the 1904 World’s Fair in Saint Louis, Missouri was known as “Physical Liberty” (see below). It stood at the top of the Cascade at that Exposition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Ironically, MacNeil’s allegorical figure used Native American images to symbolize the vitality of American expansion westward.
HISTORICAL IRONY?
A near arrogant sense of Manifest Destiny often accompanied such 19th Century concepts of American pride. An inescapable irony today, in our own 21st Century, is that MacNeil and many of his contemporary sculptors placed such Native American images at the center stage of these World Fairs. MacNeil’s embrace of Native American themes in his sculpting from 1895-1905 still offers us lessons in culture, anthropology and life values more than a century later.
MORE HISTORY:
1.) For further irony read my previous stories of the making of Hermon MacNeil’s 1895 sculpture representing Chief Manuelito of the Navajo or read history of this Chief of the Navajo starting here.
2.) William Wroth’s “Long Walk” to Bosque Redondo also provides poignant insight into this period of the United States management of Native American peoples and the life of Chief Manuelito who was part of that “Long Walk” and signed the treaty of 1868 that sought to restore Navajo lands after the disastrous interventions of the US government.
3.) “The Long Walk” A Ten (10) Part video story of the Navajo “Fearing Time” accounting atrocities against the Navajo people from 1863 to 1868. Researched and produced with support of the George S. and Delores Dore’ Eccles Foundation and the Pacific Mountain Network. Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10.
4.) “The Long Walk” For a Navajo perspective view this video by Nanebah, whose great-great grandmother survived “The Long Walk”.
5.) “300 Miles – Or Long Walk Of The Navajo – Richard Stepp” For a musical tribute with an ‘American Indian Movement’ perspective.
6.) Leslie Linthicum, staff writer for the Albuquerque Journal, gives a delightful article, “Navajo Leader Stands Tall”. It offers historical irony from our 21st Century on attitudes toward Native American culture through her story of the ‘management’ and ‘preservation’ of MacNeil’s iconic statue of Chief Manuelito.
NOTE #1:
The American Association of Young Numismatists (AAYN) is an association dedicated to educating and impassioning young people about the hobby of coin collecting. We hope our videos help spark your interest in numismatics.
Trio of 1901 Pan American Exposition Medals: Bronze, Gilt and Silver This video discusses a trio of beautiful 1901 Pan American Exposition medals, manufactued by Gorham Co. You will find over 75 videos the AAYN Video Library on You Tube.
Related posts:
- 1901 Pan-American Exposition – Buffalo, New York ~~ “The Rainbow City” (10.3)
- MacNeil Sculpture “Meets Me in St. Louis” (20)
- Expositions and World’s Fairs ~ Hermon A. MacNeil (15.6)
- MacNeil at the 1893 Columbian Exposition ~ ~ ~ THE CHICAGO YEARS ~ ~ (10.8)
- https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/2011/03/26/1904-louisiana-purchase-exposition-saint-louis-worlds-fair/
Related Images:
Apr
26
A Brief Bio – H. A. MacNeil
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Hermon Atkins MacNeil (about the time of his marriage to Carol Brooks on Christmas Day 1895)
Hermon Atkins MacNeil, American sculptor, (February 27, 1866 – October 2, 1947) was most influential in winning worldwide recognition of the American Indian as a valid artistic focus in American and European Art. His statues depicting the Native American themes became an introduction for Americans and Europeans to a ‘truly American’ subject matter for the arts. His many later monument sculptures still grace public spaces in dozens of cities across the United States. (Hot-links on this website will take you there — virtually)
Early Life and Career: Born in Everett (Chelsea, Malden) Massachusetts on his parent’s farm, MacNeil received his formal training in the arts at the Normal Art School in Boston (now Mass Art) in 1886. Upon graduation in 1886 he moved to Cornell, New York where he became an instructor in industrial art and modeling at Cornell University from 1886 to 1888. Seeking continued education, he followed the path of many sculptors/artists of his day and left for study and experience in Europe. Settling in Paris, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and at the Julien Academy as a pupil of Henri M. Chapu and Alexandre Falguière.
2016 MacNeil Medallion marking the 150th Anniversary the birth of Hermon A. MacNeil. Commissioned by our webmaster, these numbered medals are available on eBay.
Chicago: In 1891, he was back in the United States working with Philip Martiny assisting on the architectural sculptures for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. With Lorado Taft, sculpture director, he prepared preliminary sketches and was asked to craft several sculptures for the Electricity Building. Afterward, he settled in Chicago. He taught at the Art Institute of Chicago and opened a studio, shared with artist Charles F. Browne, where he continued developing his work depicting the American Indian.
Native American Themes: His first introduction to native subjects came through Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. During the 1893 Worlds Fair, Buffalo Bill’s troupe performed in a carnival setting outside the main entrance. Fascinated, MacNeil’s artist-eye and imagination took every opportunity to see the show and sketch the ceremonies and rituals of Indian life — MacNeil often carried a sketch book. He latter befriended Black Pipe, a Sioux warrior from the show, who he found down-and-out on the Chicago streets after the carnival midways of the Fair had closed. MacNeil invited Black Pipe to model for him and assist in studio labors, which he did for over a year. Inspired by these native subjects and encouraged by Edward Everett Ayers, MacNeil found a respect for this vanishing Native culture and made subsequent trips to the southwest. When the Marquette Building was constructed, MacNeil was awarded a commission to complete Four Bas Relief Panels of over the main entrance. His work depicts four scenes from Marquette’s trip through the Great Lakes region.
In the summer of 1895, along with Hamlin Garland (a writer) and C. F. Browne (a painter), he traveled to the four-corners territories (now, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah) seeing American Indians (Navajo, and Moqui — now Hopi) in their changing cultural element on various reservations. While there, he was asked to sculpt, out of available materials, a likeness of Chief Manuelito. The Navajo warrior had died in despair after being imprisoned for four years as a renegade by the U. S. Government (Col. Kit Carson) twenty-five years earlier. Manuelito’s likeness (click here), made of available materials, brought tears to his widow’s eyes, and remains an object of cultural pride in Gallup, New Mexico to this day.
Rinehart Prize. In December, he received news that he had been named as recipient of the Rinehart Roman Scholarship for study in Rome. Newspapers such as the Nov. 25, 1895 Chicago Tribune (CLICK HERE), and the Dec. 22, 1895 -New York Sun, (CLICK HERE) (columns 5 & 6), contained the news of the selection of this 29 year-old western artist to receive the Prix Rome, namely, the Rinehart Roman Scholarship. The three sculptors on the committee that selected MacNeil for the award were the ‘giants’ among American sculptors of the 19th century. The Rinehart Roman committee included Augustus Saint Gaudens, John Quincy Adams Ward, and Daniel Chester French.
Marriage: On Christmas Day 1895, in Chicago, he married Carol (Carrie) Louise Brooks, also a sculptor (see their marriage record below). Following their wedding, the pair left for Rome, passing three years there (1896-1899) and eventually spend a fourth year in Paris where their first son, Claude, was born. During those years they studied studied sculpture together under the same masters and shared the income of Hermon’s Rinehart scholarship. (Carol had also studied sculpture with both Lorado Taft and Frederick William MacMonnies).
Rome: While living in Rome from 1896-99, Hermon MacNeil made his studio in the Villa dell’ Aurora. There he put into bronze several myths and dances of the Moqui (Hopi) Indian tribes from his visits there in 1895. His first creation the ‘Return of the Snakes’, depicted a nude Indian running through the prickly-pear cactus carrying two handfuls of rattlesnakes. (1897 “The Moqui Runner” Modeled 1896, Cast 1897). This Indian priest, having used the snakes in a tribal ceremony to pray for rain to save the crops, is running down the mesa to free the snakes so that they may convey the prayers for rain to heaven. (The concept later became the subject of his 1931 Society of Medalists Commemorative (Issue #3; HOPI and Prayer for Rain). During his time in Rome he also sculpted the ‘ Sun Vow,’ the piece for which he became most famous and most often remembered. There in the hallowed cultural dominance of millennia of Geeco-Roman art, MacNeil chose to give sculptural life to his memories and studies of the American Native of the West.
American Sculptor: At the turn of the century MacNeil was back in the states, bringing with him his fame from achievements in Europe and growing recognition in the United. States. Settling in New York City, Queens, College Point, he build a home and studio. For the next five decades he focused on the many commissions he received for exhibitions throughout the states as well as private sales of his works.
Expositions: His handy works were entered into the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo (1901); the Charleston Exposition in South Carolina (1902); the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis (1904); the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon (1905); and the Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco (1915).
Coins & Medals:
He sculpted the Pan-American Exposition Medal (1901), the Standing Liberty Quarter (1916), and the Society of Medalists #3 (Prayer for Rain, 1931).
Buildings & Monuments: He made many building sculptures for these expositions, a few of which still remain. For the 1904 Fair he worked with architect Case Gilbert on the Palace of Fine Arts (now the home of the Saint Louis Art Museum). It contains three of his bas relief panels above the doors. Decades later, Gilbert, had MacNeil sculpt the East Pediment of the U. S. Supreme Court Building where Moses is the center of 11 figures. Other public buildings bearing his works include the Connecticut Capitol (six statues), the Missouri Capitol (dozens of figures in a one hundred foot stone frieze), the Cook County Court House (two pairs of figures) and Marquette Buildings (four bronze panels per the entrances). The Pony Express statue in Saint Joseph Missouri (1940) was probably his last public work completed in his 81 years of life.
“The Pony Express” (1940) by H. A. MacNeil; St. Joseph, MO (photo by Dan Leininger)
A highly successful and creative sculptor/artist, MacNeil died at age eighty-one in his home/studio on Long Island Sound where he had worked for forty-seven years.
EXPLORE this Website:
Launched in April 2010, this Gallery celebrates Hermon Atkins MacNeil, American sculptor. Trained in the Beaux Arts School of Paris, he led a generation of American sculptors to capture many fading Native American images in the realism of this classic style. He designed and sculpted for World’s Fairs, public monuments (see links below), coins, and buildings across to country.
We, here at HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com, celebrate his work daily.
We have designated each February as “MacNeil Month” (two dozen examples) to honor his birth.
Enjoy over 300 stories of H. A. MacNeil’s work and life here, on-site, in your area, on vacation, wherever…
- — Google Maps show location of sculptures!
- — Click on list of “Public Sculptures of H.A.MacNeil” to see photos.
- — Study & Leave COMMENTS at the bottom of any Posting.
- — All in one cyber-space you can Celebrate a lifetime of art
A list of over forty web links to “Sculptures of Hermon Atkins MacNeil” can be found (to your right) or at https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/.
This page is adapted from the following sources:
- www.nygardgallery.com at:http://www.fada.com/browse_by_artist.html?gallery_no=26&artist=3522&bio=1
- Holden, Jean Stansbury (October 1907). “The Sculptors MacNeil“. The World’s Work: A History of Our TimeXIV: 9403–9419.
- Hermon Atkins MacNeil – Wikipedia.org
- Daniel Neil Leininger. This website: https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/ ]
