Author Archive
Nov
04
More on the “Lawyer Lincoln” at Rushville Public Library. (Cont.)
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“Abraham Lincoln” with Marian Fretueg (right) and head librarian (left) greeted us at Rushville Public Library.
My previous posting on May 13, 2019 (CLICK HERE) shared another discovery of this website. Namely, for nearly a century an additional “Lincoln Lawyer” bust has made its a home on the Illinois prairie in Rushville.
Well, I could not resist a visit there. So, I took a side trip to Rushville on a recent vacation voyage through my old home state of Illinois.
And guess what I found? Ta Dah!
Another of Hermon MacNeil’s “Lincoln Lawyer” was found at the Rushville (Illinois) Public Library. The happy webmaster was pleased to see it and meet the Library staff
I am sure you recognize Abe Lincoln. Well the guy smilin’ on the right is me, Dan Leininger [the “happy webmaster of https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/ ].
Rushville is county seat of Schuyler County. The ‘new’ Public Library is located about seven blocks north of the downtown. The concrete sidewalks, driveway, and parking lot give easy access to walk-up, drive-up, or pedal-up traffic. The Stone and buff-brick building is clean, inviting with open access to all stacks. 
Marian Fretueg a board member and volunteer (pictured on far right), sent an email inquiring about my knowledge of this bust by Hermon A. MacNeil.
Marian asked the Library Board for permission to publish the re-discovery of the “Lawyer Lincoln” bust on this website.
She said that the donor of the bust was Albert Morris Bagby of New York City. He grew up in Rushville, Illinois and became a successful musician studying with Franz Liszt. She said, “He left our little town and studied in Germany and then ended settling in New York City.”
Mr. Bagby had the bust shipped to Rushville in 1928 to be temporarily placed at the city’s library for the enjoyment of all the patrons. Marian stated, “For some reason or other, the sculpture was never moved from our library. It is now proudly on display in the new building for the Rushville Public Library.
Bagby began his “Musical Morning” show in 1891 at his own private studio at 152 W. 57th Street. MacNeil later taught at the Art Students League of New York located in the American Fine Arts Building, one block away, at 215 West 57th Street,Several years later he moved it to the Waldorf-Astoria, the Unofficial Palace of New York, located on 34th Street at 5th Avenue. His life story is a fascinating one. CLICK HERE:
I suspect that there must have been some connection between Hermon MacNeil and Mr. Bagby. MacNeil had studios in Manhattan, NYC. Maybe we could link the histories of these two men. That would make a great story to research the two men and the possible intersection of their lives.
Hermon sculpted many statues and monuments around NYC. He also did private work with many persons of prominence there.
Mr. Bagby. He obviously donated many items to his hometown through the years. His heart never seemed to lose affection for his home town. Rushville may not have been fully aware of the “treasure” that their native son left them in the “Lawyer Lincoln.” Perhaps the new Rushville Public Library home can raise community awareness and pride in this treasure and history.
—
Bagby, Albert Morris, 1859-1941
Biographical notes:
Albert Morris Bagby was born in Rushville, Illinois on April 29, 1859 to Mary Agnes Scripps of Jackson, Missouri and John Courts Bagby from Glasglow, Kentucky. After completing his primary education in the United States, Bagby traveled to Europe to study music.
He first studied under Professor Scharwenka at the Berlin Conservatory and later with Franz Liszt in Weimar. Before Bagby died in 1941, he was considered one of the last links to Mr. Liszt. Though never a virtuoso performer himself, Bagby was an ardent admirer and pupil of the great pianist and so devoted his life to the patronage of music and performance. (Time Magazine, March 10, 1941)
After returning from Europe, Bagby was invited to give music lectures at various socialite clubs in New York. These lectures, often with piano accompaniment, turned into luxurious concerts. At first Bagby sought to call his recitals “Matinee Musicale,” but at the urging of his friend, Miss Louise McAllister, the name was changed to “Musical Morning.” (The Unofficial palace of New York, p. 99)
The first official Musical Morning was held in 1891 at Bagby’s own private studio at 152 W. 57th Street in New York. The concert series was so popular that a larger space was needed. (Emanuel Feuerman, p.89) Bagby refused to rent public music halls, which he felt would destroy the personal and intimate nature of the performance. Fortunately, an ideal site for performance and private society presented itself when a new hotel opened its doors on 5th Avenue and 34th Street. The Waldorf-Astoria (on 34th Street, and then in 1929 its new location) became the new home of Bagby’s Musical Morning, remaining so until its end in 1941. (The Unofficial palace of New York, p. 97,100)
Following each Musical Morning (which were attended by subscription only), Bagby would host a lunch for a few dozen of his most notable guests. Conversing easily with royalty, socialites and skilled musicians, Bagby became a popular figure in the social life of Europe and America. (Time Magazine, March 10, 1941)
Offering performances by almost every distinguished artist in the United States, Bagby succeeded in both providing elite entertainment and funds for The Bagby Music Lovers’ Foundation, Inc. The foundation, established at the 300th Musical Morning in January, 1925 was set up to give pensions to elderly musicians as a “reward for their unforgettable service to music.” (The Unofficial palace of New York, p. 95, 101)
In addition to his life work with Musical Morning, Bagby also traveled to Europe quite extensively, attending performances at Richard Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival and visiting friends.
While living at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, Bagby received hundreds of letters and postcards from the European royal families who had attended his performances and seen him in Europe. Most of the letters thanked Bagby for his kindness and generous gifts.
With most of Europe in turmoil after the Second World War, it was often difficult to purchase books and magazines in English. Bagby, being the generous individual that he was, acted almost as a courier service, sending books, encyclopedias, and subscriptions to National Geographic and The Spur to various European royal families. The missives also contained personal notes about the family’s wellbeing, and a request that Bagby visit next time he was in Europe.
Besides being a musician, Bagby was also a writer. When he was younger he contributed to various periodicals, and in 1895 published his first novel, a musical romance entitled Miss Traumerei. In 1904 he wrote Mamie Rosie, a fictional account a young musician’s journey to stardom.
Later in life Bagby gave back to his home town by donating various volumes, statues and paintings to the Rushville Public Library. Albert Morris Bagby died of pneumonia on February 27, 1941 at the age of 81, ending his five-decade career as director of Musical Morning. (Time Magazine, March 10, 1941).
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From the description of [Albert Morris Bagby collection]. 1890-1960. (Pritzker Military Library). WorldCat record id: 236876955 http://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w6s76w29
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The Unofficial Palace of New York: A Tribute to the Waldorf-Astoria, hardcover – 1939 by
Sep
12
I had the privilege of visiting the MAM site this week and will post a larger story soon. For now, here’s a quick shot of MacNeil’s “Sun Vow”.
Here’s a quick shot of MacNeil’s “Sun Vow” with yours truly camera in hand.
I had the privilege of visiting the MAM site this week and will post a larger story soon. For now, here’s an editorial by Frank Gerard Godlewski, Historian & NY Armory Arts Week Curator
It demonstrates a strong strain of public opinion in Montclair, NJ, concerning the “Sun Vow” a gift of Wm T. Evans. Montclair citizens have viewed and driven by this MacNeil original for over 100 years. What follows below is a re-posting of a Patch Montclair facebook page: ( https://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/respecting-sun-vow )
Montclair Op-Ed: ‘Respecting The Sun Vow’
Regarding the Montclair Art Museum’s landscape re development proposal for the Planning Board Meeting Monday August 26 at 7:30 PM
| Updated
This post was contributed by a community member.
Aug
21
Montclair Art Museum (NJ) Planning to Move MacNeil’s “Sun Vow”
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A grounds renovation at the Montclair Art Museum could result in the removal of the bronze Sun Vow which has been at the entrance since 1914. Plans include a reflecting pond with a newly-commissioned sculpture.
Credit: DEBORAH ANN TRIPOLDI/STAFF [Source: Montclair Local News 2019/7/03 ]
The Monclair Local contains an article by Jaimie Julia Winters titled, “Sculpture Removal, Tree Loss Concerns Raised with Outdoor Expansion”
Winters states:
Plans to upgrade the grounds of the Montclair Art Museum have been met with criticism from the community and the township’s historic preservation consultant over alterations to the “cultural landscape,” tree removals and the relocation of the bronze statue by Hermon Atkins MacNeil located at the entrance since the museum opened in 1914.
The New Plan– [SOURCE: https://www.montclairlocal.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Screen-Shot-2019-06-28-at-1.03.25-PM-1.png/
A new reflecting pond is planned for the grassy area in front of the museum on S. Mountain Avenue. Plans also include removing the Sun Vow sculpture and place a new, yet-to-be-commissioned piece of art in the pond. The cypress tree located in the front, reportedly planted by Van Vleck, will also be removed.
The circular driveway connecting the parking lot to the turn-around area will be repaved with granite blocks. Handicapped parking spaces along the driveway will also be reconfigured.
(Architect Paul) Sionas told the Historic Preservation Commission that original plans for the museum called for a reflecting pool and referred to a rendering dating back to 1915 of the museum front with people in top hats and with the statue in the middle of a reflecting pool.
The website has been contacted by “a group of concerned Montclair residents who want the sculpture to remain in its original location.”
Kathleen Bennett, chair of the Montclair Historic Preservation Commission, stated:
I am writing to you concerning the copy the Montclair Art Museum (NJ) of the “Sun Vow” which was given to the Montclair Art Museum when it opened in 1914. The donor was Mr. William T. Evans, who (we are told) commissioned the first copy for the front lawn of his mansion in Montclair in 1903. He gifted it to the Montclair Museum where it held pride-of-place until now. The board of the museum now want to move the sculpture to another location, as yet unknown, and replace it with a “contemporary” sculpture. We are a group of concerned Montclair residents who want the sculpture to remain in its original location.
“We feel that to move the sculpture from the front of the museum completely negates the original donor’s intentions.”
William Evans donated the Sun Vow bronze statue, which sits on a rock outside the main entrance of MAM. Bronze statues are typically duplicated in full-size. Famous works such as the Sun Vow have been reproduced in both half size and even quarter size replicas. A half-size Sun Vow (seen below) exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (cast in 1919). The original full-size “Sun Vow” graces the Chicago Institute of Art (cast in 1901). The first-copy of the original may be on the move at MAM.
The “Sun Vow” by H. A. MacNeil graces the courtyard of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This copy was cast in half-size later in 1919.
“Sun Vow” by Hermon MacNeil at the Art Institute of Chicago cast in 1901. [Photo by Dan Leininger, webmaster, www.HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com ]
The MAM First copy of the “Sun Vow” is older than any other except the Art Institute of Chicago. It is a historic piece in the world of art and the history of Montclair Art Museum (MAM)Note BELOW the antique book plate put out be The Montclair Art Association: (date unknown).
P.S.
Kathleen Bennett praise this website by saying: “Your website is extremely informative about Hermon Atkins MacNeil and I hope you will add Montclair’s “Sun Vow” to the site.”
Thanks Kathleen.
Here is Part One.
More to come … Stay tuned to https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com
Daniel Neil Leininger
webmaster
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:
Aug
08
Marquette Building Being Restored – MacNeil’s Four Bronze Panels under scaffolding
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Here are my two favorite young Chicagoans coming back from a theater performance of “Hamilton”. They stopped and posed below the second panel.
In 2019 
the Marquette Building construction has the four bas relief panels (above the doors) protected under scaffolding while the edifice is under repair. >—–>>
Hermon MacNeil’s first studio home was in the Marquette Building of Chicago in 1895. His wedding reception for him and Carol Brooks was hosted there on Christmas Day eve 1895.
From that same location, his Four Bronze Panels over the front doors have been telling the story of Father Marquette for 124 years. They welcome visitors into the Marquette Building, just as the Native Americans met and welcomed the European explorers to Northwest Territory. The Native Americans who lived in these regions include the Ojibwa, Huron, Ottowa, Illini, Potawatomi, and Menominee. MacNeil placed these tribes on the Marquette Memorial Statue on Douglas Avenue in 1926.
MacNeil carved the tribal names in the Marquette Memorial of 1926. His moccasins are exquisite in detail, looking life-like.
[(These Panels were refurbished to their original bronze luster in 2009.) CLICK HERE]
“Over the doors of the main entrance are panels of bronze, designed and executed by Mr. Herman A. MacNeil, illustrating incidents in the life of Pere Marquette
in his explorations of the Mississippi River and the state of Illinois…The inscriptions below are panels taken from Marquette’s diary.”
Architectural Reviewer, July 1897
Before the remodeling the panels look like this. MacNeil’s bronze panels of 1895.
MacArthur Foundation began restorations in 2001.
Marquette Building at 140 S. Dearborn Ave in Chicago with four MacNeil bronze sculptures above the entry doors
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation began ongoing restoration phases after acquiring the structure in 2001.
These phases include the following:
In 2001, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, its current owners, began a multi-year renovation.[18] The restoration to the exterior proceeded in two phases: reconstructing the cornice and replacing the 17th story windows to match the original windows; and cleaning and restoring the masonry and restoring the remainder of the windows.[8][19] Restoration architect Thomas “Gunny” Harboe directed this work.
The Foundation has invested in multiple restorations.
The Marquette and Joliette faces of MacNeil’s 1899 bronze reliefs at the Marquette building in the Loop resemble those likenesses he placed in his larger statue grouping on Douglas Avenue in 1926.
The Foundation website describes the History of the Panels as follows: “Herman (sic: Hermon) MacNeil was a trained sculptor who worked on sculptures for the 1893 World’s Fair. After commissioning MacNeil for the exterior bronzes, Aldis wrote to Peter Brooks, “McNeil’s [sic] panels are being placed in position. It is greatly to their and his credit that these bas-reliefs have won for him the Roman [Reinhart] Fellowship. The Commission, choosing him as the best of the very young men…The young sculptor was married on Christmas Day, and sailed for Rome on Wednesday, and is, on the whole, the most happy young man I know. He is very grateful to the owners of the Marquette Building.” CLICK HERE
MacNeil modeled Black Pipe after meeting him in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show at the Chicago Worlds Fair.
The fine features of the child contract those of the weathered warriors.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipMoXrdAoOT7PRD-QcwjCC96VrRg_aDC7F7aay66=s1600-w1600
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.”
