Course Catalog > Lectures & Walking Tours > Lectures & Specials

Daniel Chester French in New England NEW!

The sculptor, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), is best known for his Minute Man in Concord and the seated in Lincoln Memorial. Along with these American icons, French created over 80 other public sculptures, 32 of them in New England. Of these, 18 are in Boston and Cambridge, the highest concentration of his work in any one area. At least three of the 18, John Harvard, Millmore Memorial, and the Boston Public Library’s bronze doors, deserve a place on the short list of French’s masterpieces, and are representative of his broad variety of his sculptural modes and methods. People looked to sculptors to tell them something about beauty, heroism, life, death, and the promise of a realm superior to the material world. French accepted that role, and an underlying theme of this lecture is appreciating this aspect of his work. Today’s art critics scorn French as a figurative sculptor, favoring subject over object. Decide for yourself in this examination of French’s works.

Some Title