Ralph Waldo Emerson

ExpandFavorite

Images(5)

TitleRalph Waldo Emerson

Artist Daniel Chester French (American, 1850 - 1931)

Date[1879]

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 22 × 10 3/4 × 9 1/4 in.

SubmissionNA diploma presentation, February 3, 1902

Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY

Object number34-S

Label TextFrench met Ralph Waldo Emerson in Concord in 1867. In an article he wrote many years later, the sculptor recalled the philosopher as "a tall figure, walking the village streets enveloped in a long black cloak or shawl, and looking as I imagined Dante must have looked as he walked the streets of Florence." The two became better acquainted when Emerson served on the committee that commissioned the Minute Man. Eight years after winning this important assignment, French modeled the bust of the great Concordian. French wrote of the event in Art World:
[block quote:]
It was in the spring of 1879 that Mr. Emerson granted my request that he would sit to me for a bust. My improvised studio was, for his convenience, a room on the lower floor of his house, and here, almost daily for a month, patiently and uncomplainingly, this good man sat to me, more from the wish to do me a favor than from any great interest in the work itself.
[end of block quote]
The sculptor was pleased with the result and thought the bust to be "chiefly valuable for being as close a record of his features as my conscientious endeavors could attain."
A number of plaster casts were made. One was given to Emerson, and others were sold for thirty dollars each. Examples of the plaster version are held by Chesterwood, the Concord Public Library, the New-York Historical Society, and the Exeter (N.H.) Public Library. Although French had intended to put the work into marble, it was several years before he received underwriting to pay for the stone and his work on it; the first marble replica was presented to Harvard University in 1883 (now in Memorial Hall). The next year French carved a second marble replica for presentation to the town of Concord (Concord Free Public Library), making some changes in order to keep the first version unique.
The idea of rendering the work in bronze and offering it for sale also originated in 1884. For purposes of casting, French made significant departures from the original conception: the chest area was reduced, and the supporting base and shaft were made more vertical. The head, however, was not changed. Two variations in the character of the base-one broadly footed and smoothly finished, or, as in the Academy's example, more compact and roughly worked-were employed in the series of castings, which had begun by 1886. The pieces were made on order, and the work of casting went to the lowest bidder. The Gorham, Henry-Bonnard, Williams, and Zoppo foundries were all used at one time or another. In addition to the Academy's example and one at Chesterwood, bronze versions of the Emerson are held by the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; the Montclair (N.J.) Art Museum; Dartmouth College; Williamsport (Pa.) High School; the Evansville (Ind.) Museum of Arts and Sciences; and the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In the mid-1890s French created a seated statue of Emerson using photographs, rather than this head, as the basis of his conception. A full-size marble of this work, carved in 1914 by the Piccirilli brothers (Concord Free Public Library), was shown in the Academy's winter exhibition that year.
The Academy's bust was almost certainly cast shortly before it was presented. Considering that French used the Henry-Bonnard foundry for the 1901 casting of the example now in the National Portrait Gallery, and also for that of about 1907, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it might be speculated that Henry-Bonnard also cast the Academy's version. It differs from the other two busts mentioned, however, in having the base with the more roughened surface. The Academy's cast has gold-colored patination.

Collections