Daniel Chester French
His hands shaped America's marble and bronze memory, giving solemn, enduring form to Abraham Lincoln and the spirit of a young republic.
1850–1931 (age 81)·American sculptor·Birthday: April 20
Biography
Daniel Chester French did not just sculpt statues; he sculpted the American psyche in stone and metal. Born in New Hampshire, his path was set after a formative apprenticeship under John Quincy Adams Ward and studies in Florence. His first major commission, "The Minute Man" in Concord, captured the tense readiness of the American Revolution and made him a national figure at just 24. French's career became a dialogue with American history, culminating in the colossal seated Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Working with architect Henry Bacon, he spent years perfecting the figure's compassionate gaze and powerful hands, creating not an idol but a weary, wise guardian. His work, from the ethereal "Memory" at the Metropolitan Museum to the commanding "Republic" at the World's Columbian Exposition, blended Beaux-Arts refinement with a profound emotional gravity, ensuring that the nation's ideals had a face and a form.
#1 When Daniel Was Born
The biggest hits of 1850
Daniel's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1850Born
1855Started school
1863Became a teenager
President: Abraham Lincoln
1866Could drive
President: Andrew Johnson
1868Could vote
President: Andrew Johnson
1871Turned 21
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1880Turned 30
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1890Turned 40
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Turned 50
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1910Turned 60
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 70
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 80
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1931Died at 81
The Empire State Building opens as the world's tallest
Gas: $0.17/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab CallowayBest Picture: Cimarron
Key Achievements
- Sculpted the 19-foot tall marble statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial, completed in 1920.
- Created "The Minute Man" (1874) in Concord, Massachusetts, an iconic symbol of the American Revolutionary spirit.
- Designed the grand allegorical figure "The Republic" for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
- Co-founded the American Academy of Arts and Letters and served as its chancellor.
Did You Know?
He was largely self-taught in anatomy, studying by dissecting a horse obtained from a glue factory.
French's daughter, Margaret, was also a sculptor and often served as his model.
His studio, Chesterwood, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is now a museum operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
He collaborated frequently with architect Henry Bacon, most famously on the Lincoln Memorial.
“The only way to model a living thing is to get it into your memory and let your fingers remember it.”
