Horatio Greenough
(1805 - 1852) |
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Portraiture, Historical / narratives, George Washington statue Art Work
| Name: |
Horatio Greenough |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Boston, Massachusetts |
| Nationality: |
American |
| Birth: |
1805 |
| Death: |
1852 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Portraiture, Historical / narratives, George Washington statue |
| Medium: |
Clay, marble |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
Realism, Neo-Classicism |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Sculpture
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Biography
Greenough was born in Boston on September 6, 1805, into a home with an emphasis on good education. Horatio sparked an interest in artistic and mechanical hobbies, showing his talents at a young age. Particularly attracted to chalk, around the age of 12 he made a chalk statue of William Penn. Horatio also experimented with clay, from which he learned from Solomon Willard. He also learned how to carve with marble under Alpheus Cary. Horatio seemed to have a natural talent for art, yet his father wasn't fond of the idea of this as a career for Horatio.
In 1814 Horatio Greenough enrolled at Phillips Academy, Andover, and in 1821 he entered Harvard University. With a plan to study abroad, he learned Italian and French, but also still studied anatomy and kept modeling sculptures. While attending Harvard, he came across his first crucial influence. Washington Allston greatly inspired Horatio. He even molded a bust of Washington. Before graduating from Harvard, he sailed to Rome to study art where he met the painter Robert W. Weir.
These two became close friends and studied together the Renaissance and works of antiquity. During Horatio's time spent in Rome he created many busts, as well as a full-size statue of the Dead Abel, and a portrait of himself. After recovering an attack of malaria, he returned to Boston in May 1827 with Weir. He then modeled more busts such as Josiah Quincy, president of Harvard, Samuel Appleton and John Jacob Astor. Horatio's recognition was still not seen, so in attempt to establish a successful reputation sought out to make a portrait of President John Quincy Adams. His plan worked as he really displayed a style of naturalism in this piece as he did in many other works.
His sculptures reflected truth and reality, but also ancient classical aesthetic ideals from which he learned from Washington Allston. Many of Horatio's captured works were done in Florence, Italy where he spent most of his professional life. His sculpture The Rescue (1837-1850) and his over life-size George Washington (1840) both derived from United States government commissions. Some of his other most famous and important sculptures include: James Fenimore Cooper, 1831, Castor and Pollux, 1847, Marquis de Lafayette, 1831-32. |
Samples of Work
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