WELCOME to the “Hermon A. MacNeil” — Virtual Gallery & Museum !
~ This Gallery celebrates Hermon Atkins MacNeil, American sculptor of the Beaux Arts School. MacNeil led a generation of sculptors in capturing many fading Native American images and American history in the realism of this classic style.
~ World’s Fairs, statues, public monuments, coins, and buildings across to country. Hot-links (on the lower right) lead to photos & info of works by MacNeil.
~ Hundreds of stories and photos posted here form this virtual MacNeil Gallery of works all across the U.S.A. New York to New Mexico — Oregon to South Carolina.
~ 2016 marked the 150th Anniversary of Hermon MacNeil’s birth on February 27,
Take a Virtual Journey
This website seeks to transport you through miles and years with a few quick clicks of a mouse or keyboard or finger swipes on an iPad.
Perhaps you walk or drive by one of MacNeil's many sculptures daily. Here you can gain awareness of this artist and his works.
For over one hundred years his sculptures have graced our parks, boulevards, and parkways; buildings, memorials, and gardens; campuses, capitols, and civic centers; museums, coinage, and private collections.
Protesters in the shadow of Hermon MacNeil’s statue of Pres. McKinley scream outside of the Capitol doors. Columbus, Ohio
Angry Protestors at the Ohio Capitol screamed over their governor’s “Stay-at-home” orders outside the locked door. That same day, five other states experienced protests. “LIBERATION” of all these states was “whispered” by Donald Trump’s Twitter feed the day before. (see below … )
MacNeil’s sculpture design for the Award Medals at the Pan American Exhibitition, Buffalo, NY 1901 (reverse). All award medals were struck from the same design whether in Bronze, silver or gold. These are silver medals.
MacNeil exhibited at the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY where McKinley was slain. He also designed the medallion that was awarded for the gold, silver, and bronze medals for exhibit winners.
BUT these “PROTESTORS” didn’t seem to have any awareness of history (neither does our 45th President) or of a global COVID-19 PANDEMIC. They exhibit their irrational “fantasy world” as a political statement molded after “TRUMP RALLIES.”
Jeff Darcy offers an apropos opinion and cartoon below:
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The “Enabler-in-Chief” President Donald Trump has helped incite protests in multiple states against lockdown measures to fight Covid-19 by tweeting for states to be “Liberated” and dismissing the protests as slight cases of “cabin fever” just as he had initially dismissed the coronavirus spread in the United States.
On Friday, Trump posted in a series of tweets calls to “LIBERATE MINNESOTA”. “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment.”
All three states have Democratic Governors and are pivotal in Trump’s reelection bid. [https://www.cleveland.com/darcy/2020/04/trump-liberate-tweets-enable-protesters-darcy-cartoon.html]
Credit: Jeff Darcy at https://www.cleveland.com/darcy/2020/04/trump-liberate-tweets-enable-protesters-darcy-cartoon.html
McKinley’s assassin was an anarchist.
By Henry Donovan – NOTE 2
Leon Frank Czołgosz (Polish pronunciation: [ˈt͡ʂɔwɡɔʂ], roughly “CHOW-gosh“; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American steelworker and anarchist who assassinated American PresidentWilliam McKinley on September 6, 1901 in Buffalo, New York, with a .32 Caliber Iver Johnson revolver. Czolgosz was executed seven weeks later on October 29, 1901.
Czolgosz believed there was a great injustice in American society, an inequality which allowed the wealthy to enrich themselves by exploiting the poor. He concluded that the reason for this was the structure of government itself. Then he learned of a European crime which changed his life: On July 29, 1900, King Umberto I of Italy had been shot dead by anarchist Gaetano Bresci. Bresci told the press that he had decided to take matters into his own hands for the sake of the common man.[22] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Czolgosz]
The 45th PRESIDENT has established himself as a true “Liar-in Chief” …
DOES the 45th PRESIDENT also PROMOTE anarchy?
Evaluate that question for yourself?
Hint — a definition:
anarchy
[ˈanərkē] NOUN
a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority.
“he must ensure public order in a country threatened with anarchy”
absence of government and absolute freedom of the individual, regarded as a political ideal.
McKinley’s assassin was a documented anarchist.
McKinley’s assassin, Leon Frank Czołgosz was an unemployed, angry, anarchist.
Leon Czolgosz shoots President McKinley with a revolver concealed under a cloth rag. Clipping of a wash drawing by T. Dart Walker. [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_William_McKinley]
On September 6, Czolgosz went to the exposition armed with a concealed .32 caliberIver Johnson “Safety Automatic”revolver[25][26] he had purchased four days earlier.[27] He approached McKinley, who had been standing in a receiving line inside the Temple of Music, greeting the public for ten minutes. At 4:07 P.M., Czolgosz reached the front of the line. McKinley extended his hand. Czolgosz slapped it aside and shot the President in the abdomen twice, at point blank range: the first bullet ricocheted off a coat button and lodged in McKinley’s jacket; the other seriously wounded him in his stomach. McKinley died eight days later on September 14 of an infection which had spread from the wound.
Members of the crowd immediately attacked Czolgosz, as McKinley slumped backward. McKinley said, “Go easy on him, boys.”[28][29] The police struggled to keep the crowd off Czolgosz.[30] He was held in a cell at Buffalo’s 13th Precinct house at 346 Austin Street until he was moved to police headquarters.
SO DOES the 45th PRESIDENT PROMOTE anarchy?
IS the 45th PRESIDENT ASSASSINATING231 years of Democracy in the USA ?
Will this 2020 Global PANDEMIC render the final verdict on his reign of Twitter-ing Fantasy?
The answers to these questions await us like a Virus, contagious and deadly!
http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=CHE19010914&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——-#, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41332897
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]
This Society of Medalists Issue #3, in Silver, by Hermon MacNeilis rare. This silver “Beauty” is the only one I have seen in my ten years of “Searching for Uncle Hermon” and producing this website.
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 twiceas rare and up to 10times 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.
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.”
Hermon A. MacNeil Commemorative sketched by Artist Charles D. Daughtrey as the seventh work in his Series of Coin Designers is available at http://www.cdaughtrey.com/
AND THE 10th Year of my Search for “Uncle Hermon” for whom this website is dedicated.
This website also is inspired by the memory of my mother, Ollie McNeil Leininger.
I remember my mother telling me about her “Uncle Hermon.”
She handed me some “Liberty Standing Quarters” from her grocery change and showed me the little “M” at the left foot of Lady Liberty.
She showed me “The Sun Vow” statue in the Saint Louis Art Museum. We also visited “The Pony Express” statue in St. Joseph, Missouri. I grew up with a sense of pride and quiet fascination with mom’s “Uncle Hermon”
I never met “Uncle Hermon”
Hermon A. MacNeil died on October 2, 1947 at the age of 81 years, 7 months, and 8 days. On the day that he died I was just two years-old.
To read the whole article, Click and open in a separate window
My own Mother died years later in the winter of 1985. At that time, I wrote:
With her passing a warm, safe feeling faded from my world. I was the “baby” of her six children. Her death ushered in feelings of being a midlife orphan who would soon turn forty. Darkness seemed to creep in from the far corners of my life. A strange fearful child inside of me said, “Who will take care of me now?”
As the years passed, I would think of mom, and occasionally, of her “Uncle Hermon.”
By the turn of the 2K millennium, computers and the internet had become household items. This allowed people to hunt, find, and save data. I found fascinating stories about Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Virtually anything from anywhere could be researched.
In 2010, I met Dan DeBlock. He is a retired Army Chaplain and Lutheran Minister who builds websites for churches. It started as a hobby interest and became Leiturgia Communications, Inc. The Host and Tech Support for this website.
One day I asked Dan DeBlock, “Could a website be built as virtual gallery of the sculpture of Hermon Atkins MacNeil?”
Nine years and 170 stories later, “HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com” is the answer to my question and Dan’s hosting.
In that year (2010), I seriously began my “Searching for Uncle Hermon.”
That journey continues. This is story # 171 – A Birthday Present for Hermon Atkins MacNeil.
This Gallery celebrates Hermon Atkins MacNeil, American sculptor of the Beaux Arts School.
The year 2016 marks the sesquicentennial of the birth of Hermon Atkins MacNeil on February 27, 1886.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil about the time of his Standing Liberty works.
While we celebrate each February as “MacNeil Month,” this year is extra special as the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Several events during 2016 will acknowledge that here on HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com:
.
The newly commissioned 2016 MacNeil Medallion will be available for sale on eBay. CLICK HERE
Postings will continue to celebrate the life and art of Hermon A. MacNeil.
Kisimul Castle the home of the MacNeil Chieftans from the 14th century, will be featured.
The origins of the MacNeil Clan on the Isle of Barra in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides will be visited with photos and history .
The webmaster’s ongoing travels and activity will be presented as his “Search for Uncle Hermon” continues as a odyssey of retirement.
Antique “MacNeil Postcards” of some of his sculptures across the U. S. will be presented as features.
MacNeil’s years in Paris will be revisited with photos of the newly restored Ecole de Beaux Arts where he studied and taught.
MacNeil’s teachers in Paris will be featured with photos of their sculptures in the Musee d’Orsay in the center of Paris. This museum was built as the railroad station for the Universal Exposition of 1900 in which MacNeil and his contemporary sculptors exhibited and received prizes.
Our recent Travels to Scotland will be featured with photos and stories.
Our travels to France this year will be shared.
ALL in ALL, 2016 begins as a banner year for this website. SO stay tuned.
This February 27th, 2016 marks another anniversary of the birth of Hermon Atkins MacNeil our patron sculptor.
2016 actually celebrates the:
150th
Anniversary
of the birth of
HERMON ATKINS Mac NEIL
In honor of this Anniversary, we have commissioned a MacNeil Medallion commemorating his birth and the Centennial of the first minting of the Liberty Standing Quarter.
This beautiful bronze medal features the image of MacNeil at about age 60. It is plated in nickel and measures 3 inches (77 mm) in diameter.
NOW ON eBay, (Click Here) This new Medallion is a bronze medal 3″ in diameter with nickel plating. Minted in 2016, it commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Hermon Atkins MacNeil, as well as, the 100th Centenary year of the Standing Liberty Quarter minted from 1916-1930.
The center of the face duplicates the obverse of MacNeil’s original sculpture ofMiss Liberty from 1916. The “M” at the bottom (to the right of the 13th star) is the only form of signature allowed for the sculptor.
The reverse features the central image of Hermon A. MacNeil (1886-1947) and denotes the 150th Anniversary of his birth. This sesquicentennial will be celebrated here at HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com for the next 366 days of 2016. [ CLICK HERE for eBay link ]
This MacNeil Medallion is a 3" bronze medal with nickel plating minted in 2016 to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Hermon Atkins MacNeil and the 100th Centenary year of the first minting of the Standing Liberty Quarter dollar. The face duplicates the obverse of MacNeil's original sculpture of Miss Liberty from 1916. The "M" beneath the 13th star is the only form of signature allowed for the sculptor.
<== NOW AVAILABLE ON EBAY the Hermon A. MacNeil Medallion
Nearby or far away, there is no ONE place to go and appreciate this wide range of art pieces. Located in cities from east to west coast, found indoors and out, public and hidden, these creations point us toward the history and values in which our lives as Americans have taken root.
Webmaster: Daniel Neil Leininger ~ HAMacNeil@gmail.com
Hosting & Tech Support: Leiturgia Communications, Inc.
COME BACK & WATCH US GROW
WE DESIRE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS – Suggestions
1. Take digital photos of the entire work from several angles, including the surroundings.
2. Take close up photos of details that capture your imagination.
3. Look for MacNeil’s signature, often on bronze works. Photograph it too! See examples above.
4. Please, include a photo of yourself and/or those with you standing beside the work.
5. Add your comments or a blog of your adventure. It adds personal interest for viewers.
6. Send photos to HAMacNeil@gmail.com Contact me there with any questions. ~~ Webmaster
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