Ohio :: Hermon A. MacNeil

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Feb

2020 MacNeil Month ~ “Pat and Jim” at Patten Gym ~ Northwestern University ~ “They are still There” ~~ Also PHILADELPHIA and ALBANY, New York

Posted by: Dan Leininger, Webmaster | Comments (0)

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).

Categories : Evanston, Location, MacNeil Month, Monuments, Ohio, Sculptures, Statue

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Feb

Presidents Day 2020 MacNeil Month Wm. McKinley Abe Lincoln Geo. Washington “THEY ARE ALL THERE” — H.A MacNeil’s Sculptures of 3 Presidents

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“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/)

MacNeil of Barra tartan

Categories : 1901 Pan-American Exposition ~Buffalo NY, Illinois, Location, MacNeil Month, Monuments, New York, New York City, Ohio, Sculptures, Statue, University of Illinois, Urbana

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Dec

“Chief of the Multnomah” ~ DO WE HAVE ONE? ~ ???????

Posted by: Dan Leininger, Webmaster | Comments (0)

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 125^th 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).

Categories : Friends of Hermon MacNeil, Location, Ohio, Sculptures, Statue

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Jan

~ ~ ~ MacNeil’s SCULPTURES of PRESIDENTS ~ ~ ~ An Inauguration Day Reflection.

Posted by: Dan Leininger, Webmaster | Comments (1)

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. This Inaugural Day comes 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 last week 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.

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.

Hearmon A. MacNeil's "Lincoln Lawyer" at the University of Illinois

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

Amherst College, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 Accession Number: S.1932.4

Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum ~ SIRIS

Categories : Illinois, Location, MacNeil Month, New York City, Ohio, Sculptures, Statue, University of Illinois, Urbana

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May

H. A. MacNeil Sculpted the McKinley Monument at Ohio State Capitol

Posted by: Dan Leininger, Webmaster | Comments (0)

McKinley's pose here resembles MacNeil's statue of him in 1904. (Credit: Frances B. Johnson- Ohio Historical Society-AL00501)

The following article (by our Webmaster) was accepted for posting on the THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE added to the existing story there.

MacNeil's McKinley at Ohio Statehouse plaza

3. H. A. MacNeil Sculpted the McKinley Monument in Columbus Ohio.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947) sculpted this monument consisting of the statue of President McKinley and the two accompanying grouping of figures on either side. These extra figures seek to represent the values that McKinley lived out and for which grieving citizens chose to remember him.

Industry & Trade are symbolized by the first group. The man of great strength instructs the youthful student beside him. Here the artist seeks to depict strength and wisdom being passed on to the next generation. The other figures, a gracious woman ( “Prosperity” ) with her arm encircling a little maiden ( “Peace” ) are meant by MacNeil to symbolize those ideals as well as the joy and virtues of domestic life. These female figures are placing the palm leaves and flowers of peace over the sword and helmet of war.

MacNeil commented twenty years after completing this monument that while he worked very hard on sculpting the portrait of the President, he could follow his fancy in making the other figures. They only needed to convey the values and ideals consistent with McKinley and the Monument’s purpose there on the Capitol Plaza. MacNeil considered them all some of his finest works. Note To Editor only visible by Contributor and editor

— Submitted March 18, 2011, by Dan Leininger of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Categories : 1901 Pan-American Exposition ~Buffalo NY, Buffalo, Hermon A. MacNeil bio, Location, Ohio, Sculptures, Statue

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