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
CREDIT: Joshua A. Bickel, Columbus Dispatch via USA TODAY NETWORK, NOTE: Steve Schmidt thinks this photo deserves a Pulitzer Prize.
At the stately doors of the Columbus, Ohio Capitol, protestors “SCREAM” displeasure with their Governor’s “Stay-at-Home-Order” in COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
A few feet away, Hermon MacNeil’s tribute to assassinated President William McKinley (former Ohio governor, 1892-1896) stands in silent memorial to his quiet, reasonable, public service to Ohio and our nation. The comparison is striking.
These irate faces certainly contrast with the McKinley memorial statue and its four adjoining figures that MacNeil named “Prosperity” and “Peace”, and “Industry” and “Learning”. In 1906 MacNeil singled out these four allegorical themes to interpret the life and service of the slain President, William McKinley.
“Prosperity and Peace”
These contorted faces are not alone today as the USA soars to over 600,000 cases of Corona Virus (Covid-19) across the nation and over 2 million (2,000,000+) cases globally. So, furious citizens in six states or more (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Utah, North Carolina, Virginia) have raised screaming voices, honking horns, and waving protests. They target the requests of governors (like McKinley) to curtail of their work and movement during the spread of this deadly PANDEMIC. It is becoming the defining PLAGUE of this 21st Century.
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.
“They are still there” celebrates several re-visits and discoveries of MacNeil works made in 2019. This Presidents Day we look again at:
“William McKinley” statue in Columbus, Ohio.
The Statue of Wm. McKinley stands in front of Ohio Capitol looking out over the city of Columbus. I always marvel at MacNeil’s works all over the U.S. of A.
The “Lincoln Lawyer” of Illinois
Image from the Re-dedication Day of Lincoln Hall at University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana in 2012.
This Lincoln Hall image was on the Tee Shirts worn by student-guides on Feb 12, 2012 for the re-opening of the renovated Hall
Washington Square in New York City.
General George Washington with Flags (U.S. and POW/MIA) ~ Washington Arch Greenwich, NYC (Photo courtesy of: Gibson Shell – 2011)
In NYC MacNeil’s likeness of General Washington guards the rear flanks of the Washington Arch.
President McKinley was assassinated at the 1902 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. MacNeil was an exhibitor and sculpted the Award medal for that Worlds Fair. He later was awarded the commission for this McKinley Monument at the Ohio Capitol Square in Columbus.
McKinley detail ~ foot of “Industry” – a Blacksmith.
Industry and and his youthful student – allegorical figures in the McKinley grouping.
McKinley quote after taking office in 1900.
“Prosperity” and her her understudy, “Peace”
Here are three old Photos of the McKinley Monument
Early 1900s Postcard of McKinley Monument.
McKinley grouping in front of Ohio Capitol.
MacNeil’s 1915 “Lincoln” in Lincoln Hall
The restored East Foyer of Lincoln Hall with its gilted vaulted ceiling and columns makes a dramatic setting for Hermon A. MacNeil’s bust of Abrabam Lincoln as the famed prairie lawyer who left Illinois to lead the nation through the War to preserve the Union and the succession South states.
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 HAM (https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/)
Base inscription on “Chief of the Multnomah” at Mount Vernon and Knox County Library of Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Last summer 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 !
Another “Chief of the Mulnomah” discovered at Mt. Vernon, Ohio.
H. A. MACNEIL signature on the Multnomah statue with the year ’03’ (as in 1903).
Lincoln Bible and king Bible as Barack Obama takes Oath (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com)
On this Presidential Inaugural Day, the 57th in our history, President Barack H. Obama will take the Oath of the Office of President of the United States. He will place his hand on two Bibles. One used by President Abraham Lincoln, and a second belonging to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whose birthday is also celebrated on this today.ThisInaugural Daycomes fifty years after M. L. King spoke at the Civil Rights March at the Lincoln Memorial and 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
THEREFORE, in tribute to this historic day, we offer images of the three Presidents of the United States that Hermon Atkins MacNeil sculpted in his lifetime ~~ George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley.
Washington and ‘Valor’ in profile
A visit to Illinois in 2011 included a stop at the Abe Lincoln bust at Spurlock Museum at U of I. The sculpture will no longer be viewable in-the-round after being returned to its permanent home in the sparklingly-restored Lincoln Hall on campus
MacNeil originally sculpted a standing model of the Illinois Lawyer that he later re-sculpted as a bust. From that piece he had Roman Bronze Works make eight castings of his Lincoln Lawyer. This one is at the University of Illinois and will be returned to the Lincoln Hall when renovation is completed. (For more on Lincoln busts see below.)
The Smithsonian Institute archives contain this photo of MacNeil’s Lincoln standing.
Hermon A. MacNeil’s “Lincoln Lawyer” at the University of Illinois
McKinley Statue in Columbus, Ohio.
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)
MacNeil’s McKinley at Ohio Statehouse plaza
MORE on MacNEIL’s BUSTS of LINCOLN: Art and museum records locate four of MacNeil’s eight “Lincoln Lawyer” castings. Public records of the four other “Lincoln Lawyer” busts by MacNeil appear to be incomplete according to the following documentation by the Smithsonian Museum:
The fact that MacNeil made a “Lincoln Lawyer” statue was catalogued 60 years ago, along with the Lincoln likenesses sculpted by over 125 other sculptors. Donald Charles Durman assembled a “List of Sculptures of Abraham Lincoln” in his 1951 book, “He Belongs to the Ages: The Statues of Abraham Lincoln” (published by Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1951). The Smithsonian American Art Museum inventory lists only 3 locations of MacNeil’s other Lincoln busts. The University of Illinois bust of Lincoln is NOT listed among them. Thus, four of the eight are documented publicly. The Smithsonian records indicate the following listings:
University of Pennsylvania, Office of the Curator, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Control_Number: 77001611
Beloit College, Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, Wisconsin – Control_Number: 75008855
Amherst College, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts: Control_Number: 20090014
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
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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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