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Medal of Honor for Sculpture, Architectural League of New York
Artist
Date of Birth
(1866-1947)

Original clay models for the NY Architectural Medal. Photographed by Daniel N. Leininger at the archives of Swope Art Museum in Terra Haute, Indiana in 2012.
In 2012, I visited the Swope Art Museum in Terra Haute Indiana. There I photographed many clay Models rescued from MacNeil’s studio in College Point after his death.
My photos from that day include many familiar works. Some became statues. Others were never awarded commissions. Those were never sculpted full size or cast into bronze.
Of interest here are the Original clay models for the NY Architectural Medal.
SOURCE: All Photos by Daniel N. Leininger at the archives of Swope Art Museum in Terra Haute, Indiana in 2012

Both Obverse and Reverse of the original clay master are seen stored here at Swope Museum in Terra Haute, Ind.

“LEAGUE” becomes “LE[AG]VE” in Beaux Arts script.

MacNeil signature detail of clay Model. ‘FECIT’ is American English of the Latin verb (ˈfeikɪt, English ˈfisɪt). Meaning he made (it); she made (it): formerly used on works of art after the name of the artist.
THE MEDAL SCULPTING PROCESS
IS SHOWN IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEO:
Medal Maker Video

“Medal Maker” VHS of 1997
click here to view
“The Medal Maker” shows how Laura Gardin Frazer makes a clay original model for the National Sculpture Society medal awarded to Daniel Chester French The final bronze casting is pictured above on the video that preserves the original filming of her at work.
The presentation of this first NSS Medal to French honored for his sculptural work of the seated Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
That story was first first told here in 2012 at the following posting:
JOURNEY TO SUPREME COURT: ~ A Stop at Daniel Chester French’s Abe Lincoln ~ Washington D.C. …
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The Webmaster has obtained an actual medal created by Hermon MacNeil and awarded to his colleague, A. A. Weinman. That medallion was called the:
“New York Architectural League” Award
Of its sculpting and design, Joel Rosenkranz has said:
“I do think it is an extraordinary medal, wonderful low relief work with a strong sense of perspective. The allegorical figures are just beautifully rendered.” Joel Rosenkranz
But the provenance* of this particular medal is also an extraordinary linkage of these two sculptor-colleagues: * [chronology of the ownership ]
Hermon A. MacNeil 
&
Adolf A. Weinman
The Gold Medal pictured above and below was actually awarded to none other than,
Adolf A. Weinman.
Joel Rosenkranz obtained this piece of Beaux Arts history from a grandson of the renowned sculptor with an accompanying provenance tracing back to his grandfather’s estate.
In 1909, the New York Association of Architects commissioned MacNeil to design this piece.
Of this medal design, Joel Rosenkranz has said:
“I do think it is an extraordinary medal, wonderful low relief work with a strong sense of perspective. The allegorical figures are just beautifully rendered.” Joel Rosenkranz
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Obverse of the Award reads in English:
“Architectutal League NY.”

NY Architectural League Medal -observe. [Photo Credit: Joel Rosenkranz, Conner~Rosenkranz, NY, NY.] (www.crsculpture.com)
The Reverse of the Award reads: “statuariae artis peritissimo”
Which translates from Latin as:
“the most skilled in the art of statuary.”

NY Architectural League Medal -Reserve. [Photo Credit: Joel Rosenkranz, Conner~Rosenkranz, NY, NY.] (www.crsculpture.com)
Thus the Award designates the bearer as :
“A Statuary Sculptor of the Highest Skills”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
These two contemporaries had many
parallel accomplishments.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Weinman
&
MacNeil
Connections:
- Both sculptors designed Coinage.
- Both sculptors served the National Sculpture Society as presidents.

Five Presidents of National Sculpture Society. A.A. Weinman in center, H.A. MacNeil to his right. J.E. Frazer (lt) and H. Adams (rt) flack the group as they present Daniel Chester French (2nd lt.) with the National Sculpture Society Medal sculpted by Laura Gardin Frazer in 1929.
- Both were awarded the NY Architectural Medal that MacNeil designed.
- In 1932 Both sculpted friezes of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C.:
- Weinman’s frieze is in the Court Chamber.
- MacNeil’s is the outdoor – East Pediment.
- Missouri State Capitol (ca. 1926)
- [Weinman –South Pediment;
- MacNeil – West Frieze ]
- Both were chosen by the McKim, Mead, and White Architects to complete on projects such as the:
- Hall of Fame for Great Americans
- Missouri Capitol Building
- 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Both Weinman and MacNeil made multiple exhibits overlapping architectural and sculptural history:

https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/medal-honor-sculpture-architectural-league-new-york Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
NOTES:
- Joel Rosenkranz, Partner in Conner~Rosenkranz, LLC., NY, NY.] (www.crsculpture.com)
- McKim, Mead, and White Architects
Related posts:
- ‘Hermon A. MacNeil’ found in Video from 1929 (3) Four past-presidents of the National Sculpture Society congratulate Daniel Chester French. …
- “Jo and Hermon” ~~ The Wanderer and The Monument Maker ~~ Story # 2: MacNeil Month 2021 ~~ (3) ~ JO Davidson ~ Adventurer ~ ~ Hermon MacNeil ~ …
- The Portrait “BUST” of HERMON A. MacNEIL ~ by Jo Davidson ~ Unveiled for MacNeil Month 2021 ~#5 (3) AT LAST, the UNVEILING of the 75-YEAR-OLD PORTRAIT BUST OF…
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A BRIEF NOTE from the Webmaster:
“We did not discover this bust by Hermon A. MacNeil until 2020, 100 YEARS after this sculpture was installed in its niche at New York Public Library.
Here’s the story we found!”
IN 1920 THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Bulletin reported the following story and photos:
“The John Stewart Kennedy Memorial was completed and the bust of Mr. Kennedy by H. A. MacNeil, the sculptor, was installed in the niche prepared for it in the Fifth Avenue entrance lobby. Mr. Kennedy was
formerly the President of the Lenox Library, and upon the consolidation became a Trustee and Second Vice-President of The New York Public Library, in which capacities he continued to serve until his death in 1909. He took an active part in the negotiations, which resulted in the consolidation, and the deep interest, which he displayed in the development of the Library and his liberal benefactions to it will be ever remembered.” [SOURCE: Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Volume 24: January to December 1920, New York, 1920]

1920 New York Public Library. The John Stewart Kennedy Memorial was completed and the bust of Mr. Kennedy by H. A. MacNeil, the sculptor, was installed in the niche prepared for it in the Fifth Avenue entrance lobby.
Kennedy was a Scottish-born American businessman, financier and philanthropist. At the time of his death his will gave away $30,000,000 to various , universities, libraries, museums, Presbyterian missions, around the city and globe, including $2,500,000 to the New York Public Library. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_Kennedy]

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When the Students of Northwestern University saw MacNeil’s Female and Male statues in front of Patten Gym, they re-named them “Pat and Jim”

“Pat” or “Intellectual Development” is half of the pair of MacNeil creations that have graced the Northwestern campus for over 100 years.

“Jim” or “Physical Development” is the left-hand piece of the MacNeil pair placed in front of “Patten Gym” in 1919.
A bit of Sophmoric humor, perhaps, sure! But “Pat & Jim” are leading Northwestern into a 2nd century of campus smiles.
“Pat” bears a striking resemblance to another MacNeil lady, namely, “Prosperity” of the McKinley grouping. Perhaps they are related? At least creations of the same creator.
WELCOME TO MacNEIL MONTH !

“Pat” of Patten Gym bears a resemblance to “Prosperity” of the McKinley Monument grouping.

“Prosperity” and her daughter “Peace” are bookends of the McKinley Monument.
“They are still there” celebrates MacNeil works visited in 2019.
This pair of Beaux Arts pieces are just two of hundreds of the works of Hermon Atkins MacNeil.
This years featured visits include:
- “The Sun Vow” in New York City and Monmouth, New Jersey.
- “William McKinley” statue in Columbus, Ohio.
- The Patten Gym at Northwestern University ~ “Intellectual Development” and “Emotional Development”
- “The Soldiers and Sailors Monument” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MONUMENT Philadelphia

Philadelphia – Hermon MacNeil – “Soldiers And Sailors Monument” – South pylon or Sailors side – Being photographed by Dan Leininger, webmaster).
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The face of the General shows marble worn through 97 years of exposure and harsh cleaning.
On this 281st anniversary of the birth of George Washington (Feb. 22, 1732), we visit Hermon MacNeil’s famous statue in Washington Square, NYC. Photos here show it both today and in MacNeil’s original plaster model of 1915 from his College Point studio. His model was located just this past year. (See photos below).
CLICK BELOW for The Washington Arch as New Yorkers and visitors stroll southward from Fifth Avenue into Washington Park.
http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/11/a-walk-on-waverly-place/37-arch/
CLICK BELOW for General George Washington ~ MacNeil’s patriot Commander of the Continental Army.
http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/11/a-walk-on-waverly-place/39-washington-3/
CLICK BELOW for President Washington ~ Alexander Stirling Calder’s rendition of the civilian “Mr. President”
http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/11/a-walk-on-waverly-place/38-washington-2/
BELOW is my photo of MacNeil’s original studio plaster model for the George Washington Statue. It is about 3 1/2 feet tall.

Original Plaster model for “George Washington as Commander-in Chief” by H.A. MacNeil
The actual statues on the Arch are 12 feet tall. They were both carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. To see a clay model for the piece CLICK BELOW =>
http://www.lehman.edu/academics/arts-humanities/piccirilli/img44.php
The Picarrilli’s were a famous family of stone-carvers and sculptors who made many of the great sculpture carvings of that period (early 20th century).
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Between 1893 and 1905 Hermon Atkins MacNeil and his sculptures were involved in four World’s Fairs. The Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York (1901) was the second of these events. Popularly known as the 1901 World’s Fair in Buffalo NY, over 8 Million people attended the exhibition.
University of Deleware ~ Special Collections website offers this description;
The most unusual aspect of the Pan-American was the color scheme of its buildings. Unlike the pristine design of the “White City,” the architectural plan of the Pan-American was to build a “Rainbow City.” The buildings were done in a Spanish Renaissance style and were colored in hues of red, blue, green, and gold. The Electric Tower, the focal point of the fair, was colored deep green with details of cream white, blue, and gold. At night, thousands of electric lights outlined the buildings.

"The Sun Vow" (photo courtesy of Gib Shell)

Hermon Atkins MacNeil's "The Moqui Runner" (The Moqui Prayer for Rain -- The Returning of the Snakes) 1896, cast 1897.
In the year 1900, MacNeil returned to the United States after three years in Rome and a fourth back in Paris. He settled in New York City. Within a year, MacNeil set up a home and an adjoining studio in College Point, Long Island (now Flushing, Queens ). His studio became his work place for the next four decades.
MacNeil’s “Sun Vow” and the “Moqui Runner” were both exhibited at the 1901 Fair. The “Sun Vow” had received a silver medal at the Paris exhibition of 1900. It was exhibited again at the Columbian Exposition of 1904 — the Saint Louis World’s Fair. As the years passed, it would become his best known work. (Webmaster’s Note: It recently graced the cover of the 2010 Denver Art Museum publication, “Shaping the West: American Sculptors of the 19th Century”)
At the Buffalo Exhibition he was asked to do the pediment sculptures for the Anthropological Building, as well as a grouping known as “Despotic Age.” Craven described the work as follows:
The spirit of despotism with ruthless cruelty spreads her wings over the people of the Despotic Age, crushing them with the burden of war and conquest and draging along the victims of rapine (plunder), a half savage figure sounds a spiral horn in a spirit of wild emotion. (Craven, SIA, p. 518)

MacNeil’s sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exhibition, Buffalo, NY 1901 (front) [ photo credits: CCya at http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=25738
MacNeil designed the official gold medal (displayed here in silver) struck in celebration of the Pan American Exhibition. His commissioned design bears a youthful woman standing beside a buffalo on the obverse side. She represents the triumph of the intellect over physical power. The reverse depicts two Indians with a sharing a peace pipe. One, a North American Indian, extends the extends the pipe to the South American Indian. Craven notes that

MacNeil's sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exhibition, Buffalo, NY 1901 (reverse). All award medals were struck from the same design whether in Bronze, silver or gold. These are silver medals.
MacNeil chose to portray the theme of “Pan-American friendship through images of the red man, not the white man.” (Craven, SIA, P. 519). We can also observe that this choice extended MacNeil’s selection of native people into a second continent. [Photo credits CCya at http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=25738]
President William McKinley was assassinated at the fair. On Sept. 6, 1901, Leon Czolgosz shot President McKinley in the Temple of Music, a pavilion of the Buffalo, New York, Pan-American Exposition. Eight days later, on Sept. 14, McKinley was dead. We do not know if MacNeil was present at the Fair when the President was attacked. In some sense, President McKinley’s overshadowed the rest of the Exposition. Buffalo promoted the event in order to be seen as a prosperous, modern, technologically-advanced city,. Instead Buffalo became seen as the city of the assassination.

McKinley making his last public speech before he was assassinated, Buffalo, New York, September 5, 1901. (His pose in this photo resembles that of MacNeil's statue of him in 1904). (Credit: Frances B. Johnson-Ohio Historical Society-AL00501)
In the years following The Buffalo Exhibition, a series of important commissions would raise him to prominence as a major American sculptor. One of those was, oddly enough, was the McKinley Monument Statue and Plaza at the front of the Ohio State Capitol Building where McKinley served two terms as the governor of the state.
The only remaining building of the fair is the New York State Pavilion. It is now the home of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. (see map) A boulder marking the site of McKinley’s assassination was placed in a grassy median on Fordham Drive
1901 Pan-American Exposition links: (active as of this posting date)
[mappress mapid=”24″]
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