Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 15

Frederick William MacMonnies
Diana the Huntress, 1890 Classical Bronze Sculpture of Nude Woman

1890

About the Item

Frederick William MacMonnies (American, 1863-1937) Diana, 1890 Bronze with green verdigris patina Signed and dated Copyright 1894 with Jaboeuf & Rouard, Paris foundry mark 31 x 21 x 17 inches A sculptor of classical figures, American-born Frederick MacMonnies had fame in the United States and Europe in the later half of the 19th century and early 20th century. He occasionally returned to America but lived most of his life as in expatriate in France. He was especially known for his lithe bronze figures, especially ones titled Diana. The classical names of these figures allowed him the appearance of propriety but gave him the opportunity to model svelte nudes. Frederick MacMonnies was one of the first American sculptors to recognize the potential market of the middle class. He copyrighted his works and then contracted with foundries to mass produce some of his figures such as Diana in smaller sizes. MacMonnies was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a child prodigy at carving stone. At age 18, he worked in the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and then persuaded him to become his assistant, keeping models damp and covered, running errands, and cleaning the studio. Evenings he studied at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, and the National Academy of Design. In Saint-Gaudens' studio, he met many of the wealthy people who shared Saint-Gaudens Beaux-Arts based ideas that art and architecture should be unified in order to create public art in America equal to that of classical antiquity or Renaissance Europe. Among the men that MacMonnies met through Saint-Gaudens who later furthered his career were architects Stanford White and Charles McKim and John LaFarge, decorator of mansions of the wealthy including the Vanderbilts. After four years of study and work in New York, MacMonnies left for Paris, opting for the more modernist techniques he could learn there over the more traditional sculpture teaching in Rome. One of his first teachers was Alexandre Falguiere, who had been an instructor of Saint-Gaudens and who injected a degree of contemporary realism into his classical figures. MacMonnies mingled with many upper class American expatriates and met his future wife, Mary Fairchild, a painter. MacMonnies came home briefly to help Saint-Gaudens with a project and then gained admittance in Paris to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where he did numerous classical figures inspired by the style of small bronzes of Renaissance Florence, Italy. In 1889, he established his reputation with his sculpture of "Diana" at the Paris Salon. The execution of his nude sculpture was a challenge for a sculptor such as himself who strove for slim, well proportioned figures---the "aestheticizing of the nude". (Katz 12) In those days, most of the female models were poor peasants who were stocky with poor figures, distorted feet and often unbathed. However, MacMonnies found Marie Caira as the model for his Diana figures, and she, from a professional family of models, had the figure and social stature that met his criteria. Although he chose to live in Paris, many of his public and private sculpture commissions in future years, with the help of Saint-Gaudens and also architect, Stanford White, were in the United States. At the recommendation of Saint-Gaudens, he successfully entered the "Nathan Hale" competition for City Hall Park in New York City and had work at the 1893 World's Fair Exposition in Chicago. His work titled The Barge of State, a thirty-eight figure extravaganza, made him nationally famous. A bronze Bacchante of a female nude in riotous abandon caused a lot of controversy including being banned in Boston, but the attention brought him even more work.
  • Creator:
    Frederick William MacMonnies (1863-1937, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1890
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 31 in (78.74 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)Depth: 17 in (43.18 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Beachwood, OH
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1768213715382

More From This Seller

View All
Harmony, 20th century bronze & green marble base, nude man and woman with lyre
By Max Kalish
Located in Beachwood, OH
Max Kalish (American, 1891-1945) Harmony, c. 1930 Bronze with green marble base Incised signature on right upper side of base 14 x 9 x 5 inches, excluding base 17 x 10 x 8 inches, including base Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United States in 1894, his family settling in Ohio. A talented youth, Kalish enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as a fifteen-year-old, receiving a first-place award for modeling the figure during studies with Herman Matzen. Kalish went to New York City following graduation, studying with Isidore Konti...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Sleeping Ariadne, Large Bronze & Marble Sculpture of Greek Mythology, 19th C.
By Pietro Chiapparelli
Located in Beachwood, OH
Pietro Chiapparelli (Italian, 19th Century) Sleeping Ariadne, c. 1865 Bronze on marble base Inscribed 'P. Chiapparelli F.I. Roma' 22 x 24 x 10.5 inches 136 lb. (34 lb. bottom marble,...
Category

1860s Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Italian Bronze Sculpture of Nude Woman, Mid 20th Century
Located in Beachwood, OH
Mario Spampinato (Italian 1912–2000) Nude Bronze Signed on base 17.5 in. h. x 5.75 in. w. x 6 in. d. The artist was born, raised and trained in Italy. During one of his exhibits (at San Marcos in Rome) the Director of a New York Gallery asked him to come to New York to work for him. The American Consul, before issuing his visa, asked Spampinato to create a bust of him. In exchange, the Consul paid for his passage on the boat to New York. In New York, he worked with his brother Clemente Spampinato who is a well known sculptor as well. After moving to Chicago in 1954, he discovered that there was no foundry in the Midwest that could cast his bronzes. So, he opened his own foundry called the Spampinato Art Foundry, casting in the lost wax process. He also started his own private school (Spampinato Art Workshop, Ltd) and did some teaching at the University of Chicago and conducted seminars at Lawrence University in Kansas. Many of his own works are pictured and cataloged in Volumes 2 & 3 of Bronzes: Sculptors and Founders, 1800-1930 by Harold Berman. Between 1959 and 1967, Spampinato recast a number of Charles M Russell...
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Contortionist Nude, 20th Century Bronze of Nude Female, Cleveland Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
David Deming (American, 20th Century) Contortion Nude Bronze Signed on base 14 x 12 x 9 inches David Deming is a nationally recognized contemporary Ameri...
Category

Late 20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

19th Century Grand Tour Bronze of the Uffizi Wrestlers
Located in Beachwood, OH
After Lysippos (Greek, 390 BC-300 BC) 19th Century Grand Tour Bronze of the Uffizi Wrestlers Bronze J. Chiurrazi & Fils, Naples 17 x 20 x 12 inches 76 lb. The Wrestlers is a Roman m...
Category

19th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

20th Century French School Large Bronze Sculpture of a Semi-Nude Dancer
Located in Beachwood, OH
20th Century French School Dancer Patinated bronze 38 x 18.5 x 9 inches Provenance: The Tatti Family Collection
Category

20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

You May Also Like

Cupid and Psyche
By Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Located in PARIS, FR
Cupid and Psyche by Albert-Ernest CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887) Bronze group with nuanced brown patina signed on the base "Carrier-Belleuse" old edition cast France circa 1870 hei...
Category

Late 19th Century French School Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Caress of Love
By Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
Located in PARIS, FR
"Caress of Love" by Albert-Ernest CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887) Bronze group sculpture with a nuanced dark brown patina Signed on the back "A. Carrier-Belleuse" Reposing on its orig...
Category

1870s French School Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

The Kiss
Located in PARIS, FR
The Kiss by Alfred PINA (1887-1966) Bronze group with a brownish dark green patina signed on the base "A. Pina" cast by "A. Valsuani" (foundry stamp) France circa 1927 height 51,5...
Category

1920s French School Nude Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Nude kneeling
By Baltasar Lobo
Located in PARIS, FR
Nude kneeling by Baltasar LOBO (1910-1993) A bronze sculpture with an old gilded patina Signed on the lower side " Lobo " Cast by " Susse Fondeur Paris " (with the foundry mark) Art...
Category

Mid-20th Century French School Nude Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

The Three Graces
Located in PARIS, FR
The Three Graces by Alfred JANNIOT (1889-1969) A bronze group with a nuanced brownish green patina Signed on the side of the base "A. Janniot" Cast by "Susse fondeur Paris" (inscrib...
Category

Mid-20th Century French School Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Gorilla kidnapping a woman
By Emmanuel Fremiet
Located in PARIS, FR
Emmanuel FREMIET (1824-1910) Gorilla kidnapping a woman A rare bronze group with a greenish dark brown patina signed "E. Fremiet" on the base cast by " F. Barbedienne Fondeur " (fo...
Category

Late 19th Century French School Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Recently Viewed

View All