DOI Heft:
No. 343 (October 1921)
DOI Artikel:Gallatin, Albert E.: An American sculptor: Paul Manship
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21393#0160
AN AMERICAN SCULPTOR: PAUL MANSHIP
PAIR OF CANDELABRA ",'ADAM
AND EVE " AND " VENUS AND
VULCAN." BY PAULfMANSHIP
work. He is of course right in venerating
tradition, but even supposing that he is not
in sympathy with the spirit of his age, his
work nevertheless should reflect at least
something of its aspirations. The greatest
art has always been modern in feeling, in-
deed often revolutionary. It is not my pur-
pose to make these criticisms in order to
belittle Manship's achievements, which I
fully recognize. I consider Manship to be
a true artist, with a great command over his
medium, and in attainments the equal of
any sculptor alive. I am only stating the
qualities which I hope it will be possible
144
for the sculptor to introduce into his works
as yet unborn, for I believe such an infusion
would add very much to his ultimate rank
and importance as an artist. a a
Fifty-six examples of Mr. Manship's art
were shown in the London exhibition,
which was confined to smaller works, in-
cluding fifteen medals. The exhibition
therefore did not present the entire range
of Mr. Manship's talents, which the inclu-
sion of such works, somewhat more monu-
mental in conception, as his memorial
tablet to J. P. Morgan, in the Metropolitan
Museum, the life-si^e copy of the Dancer
and Gazelles, the heroic version of the
Indian Hunter and Pronghorn Antelope, the
Infant Hercules Fountain (destined for the
courtyard of the American Academy in
Rome) and The Spirit of the Chase would
have done. The inclusion of the portrait of
the sculptor's daughter, aged three weeks,
which was only shown in coloured plaster,
and his remarkable marble bust of Mr.
Rockefeller would have added very greatly
to the impressiveness of the collection. On
the whole, however, the exhibition gave an
excellent idea of the artist's gifts, especially
as he excels in his smaller works and his
genius was not cast in an heroic mould. 0
For those interested in learning some-
thing about the sculptor himself, it may be
stated that Mr. Manship was born in St.
Paul, Minnesota, on Christmas Day, 1885,
of American parents. It was here that he
began his study of drawing, afterwards
studying sculpture in New York and at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in
Philadelphia. In 1909 he won the scholar-
ship offered by the American Academy in
Rome and at once left for Italy, where he
remained three years, varied by trips to
Greece and other countries. Mr. Manship
then made New York his home, and here
he remained until this year, when he
departed for Europe, with the intention of
remaining about three years, making Paris
his headquarters. Mr. Manship has been
the recipient of numerous awards, includ-
ing the Panama-Pacific Exposition gold
medal for sculpture (1914). He is repre-
sented in the Luxembourg Gallery, Paris,
and in many American museums, including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washing-
ton, and the Art Institute of Chicago, a
PAIR OF CANDELABRA ",'ADAM
AND EVE " AND " VENUS AND
VULCAN." BY PAULfMANSHIP
work. He is of course right in venerating
tradition, but even supposing that he is not
in sympathy with the spirit of his age, his
work nevertheless should reflect at least
something of its aspirations. The greatest
art has always been modern in feeling, in-
deed often revolutionary. It is not my pur-
pose to make these criticisms in order to
belittle Manship's achievements, which I
fully recognize. I consider Manship to be
a true artist, with a great command over his
medium, and in attainments the equal of
any sculptor alive. I am only stating the
qualities which I hope it will be possible
144
for the sculptor to introduce into his works
as yet unborn, for I believe such an infusion
would add very much to his ultimate rank
and importance as an artist. a a
Fifty-six examples of Mr. Manship's art
were shown in the London exhibition,
which was confined to smaller works, in-
cluding fifteen medals. The exhibition
therefore did not present the entire range
of Mr. Manship's talents, which the inclu-
sion of such works, somewhat more monu-
mental in conception, as his memorial
tablet to J. P. Morgan, in the Metropolitan
Museum, the life-si^e copy of the Dancer
and Gazelles, the heroic version of the
Indian Hunter and Pronghorn Antelope, the
Infant Hercules Fountain (destined for the
courtyard of the American Academy in
Rome) and The Spirit of the Chase would
have done. The inclusion of the portrait of
the sculptor's daughter, aged three weeks,
which was only shown in coloured plaster,
and his remarkable marble bust of Mr.
Rockefeller would have added very greatly
to the impressiveness of the collection. On
the whole, however, the exhibition gave an
excellent idea of the artist's gifts, especially
as he excels in his smaller works and his
genius was not cast in an heroic mould. 0
For those interested in learning some-
thing about the sculptor himself, it may be
stated that Mr. Manship was born in St.
Paul, Minnesota, on Christmas Day, 1885,
of American parents. It was here that he
began his study of drawing, afterwards
studying sculpture in New York and at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in
Philadelphia. In 1909 he won the scholar-
ship offered by the American Academy in
Rome and at once left for Italy, where he
remained three years, varied by trips to
Greece and other countries. Mr. Manship
then made New York his home, and here
he remained until this year, when he
departed for Europe, with the intention of
remaining about three years, making Paris
his headquarters. Mr. Manship has been
the recipient of numerous awards, includ-
ing the Panama-Pacific Exposition gold
medal for sculpture (1914). He is repre-
sented in the Luxembourg Gallery, Paris,
and in many American museums, including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washing-
ton, and the Art Institute of Chicago, a