Lincoln Memorial Statue’s Forgotten Sculptor Comes To Light In New Documentary

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Abraham Lincoln, the giant of a man both in the literal and figurative senses, commanded the most presence in any room. Inadvertently, many others who helped carve his legacy were cast into the shadows.

Daniel Chester French was among them. If the name doesn’t ring a bell to you, you’d at least have seen his works. After all, French was the sculptor of the historic Lincoln Memorial statue in Washington, DC.

The American Renaissance sculptor first grew into prominence with The Minute Man bronze at the Bridge of Concord in Massachusetts. He also worked on one of the memorial for Richard Morris Hunt, who was the architect for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the O’Reilly Memorial on Boylston Street in Boston; and the John Harvard sculpture in the Harvard Yard; among others.

You’ve seen his stuff but not their originator. Now, a new documentary seeks to familiarize new generations with the forgotten face of the Lincoln statue.

Portrait of Daniel Chester French, taken by photographer James Edward Purdy in 1902. Image via US Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor, produced by filmmaker Eduardo Montes-Bradley, honors French’s silent role in setting American history in stone. Not only that, but it also acknowledges other invisible voices who helped build it, Artnet News reports. There were the Italian artisans who carved out statues per the visions of artists, as well as diverse sitters like Hettie Anderson, an African-American woman often portrayed by French and other sculptors.

With inclusivity and representation taking precedence today, Montes-Bradley felt it was important to travel back in time to recognize minority voices of before and “understand that [the past] was diverse,” he told Artnet News.

The documentary premiered in May, in time for the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of the Lincoln Memorial, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts—just across the road from French’s Chesterwood summer home and studio.

Harold Holzer, a historian who was not involved in the film, 

Speaking about the Lincoln sculpture, Harold Holzer—a historian who was not involved in the film—told WBUR’s All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins that everything from the 16th president’s eyes, nose, to mouth were accurate to Lincoln’s physical features. As for the head tilt, hair, and look in the eyes, those came from the mind of French.

French also made sure to enlarge the chair of state to “accommodate this giant of a man” as Lincoln wouldn’t have been able to sit on most chairs comfortably, described Holzer, who authored a Daniel Chester French biography.

[via Artnet News and WBUR, images via various sources]