World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.) Search this
Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (France) Search this
Type:
Memoirs
Manuscripts
Photographs
Sketches
Typescripts
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
7 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series: Series 1: Biographical Material, 1884-1921 (Box 1; 5 folders) Series 2: Diary, 1884-1885 (Box 9; 1 folder) Series 3: Correspondence, 1880-1971 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet) Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1874-1931 (Box 1; 6 folders) Series 5: Project Files, 1891-1935 (Box 1, 9-10; 27 folders) Series 6: Art Work, 1910-1914 (Box 1, 8-9; 1.1 linear feet) Series 7: Writings, 1912-1917 (Box 2; 12 folders) Series 8: Mary Smart's Research Files, 1908-1997 (Box 2-6, 9; 4.2 linear feet) Series 9: Printed Material, 1896-1996 (Box 6-7; 13 folders) Series 10: Photographs, 1889-1911 (Box 7, 9; 8 folders)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Summary:
The papers of sculptor Frederick William MacMonnies date from 1874 to 1997 and measure 7.0 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, a diary, correspondence, personal business records, project files, two sketchbooks and sketches, writings, printed material, and photographs. Well over one-half of the collection consists of Mary Smart's research files for her biography of MacMonnies, A Flight with Fame , as well as clippings regarding her research and a copy of the book.
Citation:
Frederick William MacMonnies papers, 1874-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels D245 and 3042 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Use Note:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are four letters from MacMonnies to Allan Marquand cataloged separately, and a typescript "The Form of the Princeton Monument" lent by Elric Endersby in 1976 and microfilmed on reel 1094. The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reels D245 and 3042) including five scrapbooks and letters from Augustus Saint-Gaudens to MacMonnies. Lent materials were returned to the lenders and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Biography Note:
Frederick William MacMonnies (1863-1937) of New York City, was a well known sculptor of the Beaux-Arts School, equally successful in France as in the United States. He was also a highly accomplished painter and portraitist.
Frederick William MacMonnies was born on September 28, 1863 in Brooklyn Heights, New York, the son of Juliana Eudora West and William MacMonnies. From an early age, MacMonnies showed skill in fashioning figures from wax. Because the Civil War put an end to his father's prosperous importing business, MacMonnies had to leave school at a young age in order to earn money to support the family.
With the help of a stone carver friend of his father, MacMonnies became a studio assistant to Augustus Stint-Gaudens in 1880. MacMonnies also studied at night at Cooper Union. In 1882 Saint-Gaudens promoted MacMonnies to apprentice and encouraged his development as an artist. MacMonnies began studying drawing at the National Academy of Design and occasionally attended classes at the Art Students League. It was during this time that he became better acquainted with Saint-Gaudens' important patrons and colleagues including John LaFarge, Charles F. McKim, Stanford White.
In 1884 MacMonnies left for Paris to study first at the Académie Colarossi and later at the École des Beaux-Arts under Jean Alexandre Falguière. In 1888 he opened a studio in Paris where he mentored artists including Janet Scudder and Mary Foote. He married a fellow artist, Mary Louise Fairchild in 1888. They had two daughters, Berthe Hélène and Marjorie. They were divorced in 1909, and Mary married painter Will Hicok Low later that year. MacMonnies married his former student Alice Jones in 1910.
MacMonnies executed commissions for Stanford White and John La Farge. In 1889, he won a competition to complete a statue of Nathan Hale for City Hall Park. He won a medal in the Paris Salon for his statue of Hale and a second medal for his statue of James T. Stranahan, earning status as a master artist. In 1891, he was commissioned to produce the central fountain for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Even though MacMonnies travelled annually to the United States, he maintained his primary residences and studios in Paris and Giverny, France. He was also an occasional painter and had a solo exhibition at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in the United States in 1903. In 1905 his Bacchante and Infant Faun statue became the center of controversy when it was rejected by conservative groups in Boston. It was later acquired by the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. In 1915 he returned permanently to the United States.
MacMonnies was an Academician of the National Academy of Design, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France and hors concours at the Paris Salon allowing him to submit works directly to the Salon without initial scrutiny by judges.
Frederick William MacMonnies died of pneumonia on March 22, 1937 in New York City.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The bulk of Frederick William MacMonnies papers were donated by the artist's granddaughters Louise Wysong Rice and Marjorie Vander Velde in 1988 and 1998. Some, but not all, of the papers were originally loaned for microfilming and were later included in the donations. A small addition to the papers was transferred from the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art Library in 1981.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
