Francis Edwin Elwell

Francis Edwin Elwell (also cited as Frank Edwin Elwell; June 15, 1858, in Concord, Massachusetts – January 23, 1922, in Darien, Massachusetts) was an American sculptor, teacher, and author.

He lectured on art at Harvard University, and taught modeling at the National Academy of Design and wrote one of the first, though unpublished, histories of American sculpture.

Elwell established an early reputation as a sculptor of portrait busts, but also became known for major works, funereal and military monuments, and architectural sculptures. His most famous work is probably Dickens and Little Nell (1890).

Biography Early life Elwell was the son and only child of John Wesley Elwell and Clara Farrar, of Concord, Massachusetts. He was orphaned at age 4, and raised by his maternal grandparents, Elisha Jones Farrar and Elizabeth Chase Barnay. His grandfather was a blacksmith, whom Elwell assisted at the forge. The Farrars were friendly with several illustrious neighbors: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and the Alcott family. Her sister, writer Louisa May Alcott, took an interest in both students.

As a teenager, Elwell assisted French (eight years his senior) in the sculptor's Concord studio, They returned to Massachusetts in 1885, and two gold medals at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. The New York Times wrote, "Among the art exhibits of this country at the World's Fair, probably no particular example has attracted more popular interest than the sculptural memorial to Charles Dickens, the work of Mr. F. Edwin Elwell, a young artist".

Lorado Taft wrote in his 1903 book The History of American Sculpture: In his "Dickens and Little Nell" the sculptor has given us that rare thing,—a portrait statue which makes an emotional appeal. To be sure, its dramatic power is due to a secondary figure, as is the case in Mr. French's "Gallaudet," but the use of such a figure is legitimate when it detracts nothing from the effect of the principal, but rather enhances it, and when it is in itself as charming in conception as is Mr. Elwell's "Little Nell." Elwell exhibited two bronzes in the Art Gallery, Egypt Awakening and Dancing Girl, and was awarded a bronze medal for them.

His twin sons entered Harvard University in 1906, and Elwell donated his plaster model of Kronos: At the reception to Freshmen in the Union last night, a statue of "Kronos," designed by F. E. Elwell, and presented to the Union by A. F. Elwell '10 and S. B. Elwell '10, was unveiled in the southwest corner of the Living Room. Mr. W. C. Lane '81, Librarian of the University, announced the gift and briefly described its significance. The statue is a plaster model of a colossal figure exhibited at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901. Kronos is represented with out-stretched wings, symbolic of the apparently swift flight of time, but standing on the back of a turtle, as significant of its slow progress. The face is covered with a veil, emblematic of mystery.

Personal On October 30, 1882, Elwell and Molina Mary Hildreth (1847-1932), of Cambridge, Massachusetts, were married in Paris.

Frank and Molina Elwell separated around 1908, and their 1911 divorce was highly publicized. Nathan Hale (clay, 1889), unlocated. Exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Bought by M. Gabriel Goupillat at the Paris Salon of 1896. Isis Instructing Horus (The Origin of Religion) (1898), unlocated. Owned by Theodore B. Starr, New York City. Strength and Love (by 1898), unlocated. Abraham Lincoln (bronze, 1911), Sculpture: , Overall: , East Orange City Hall Plaza, East Orange, New Jersey.

Portrait busts Bust of Hippolyte Le Roy (1882), exhibited at Paris Salon of 1883. Le Roy had been Elwell's instructor at the Royal Art School, Ghent, Belgium. Bust of Louisa May Alcott (plaster, 1891), height: , Orchard House, Concord, Massachusetts Elwell donated a plaster cast to the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in 1900. A 1967 bronze cast is at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. Bust of Vice President Levi P. Morton (marble, 1891), height: , United States Senate Art Collection. Bust of Peter Esselmont, Lord Provost of Aberdeen (marble, by 1899), Town Hall Library, Aberdeen, Scotland. Bust of Vice President Garret A. Hobart (marble, 1901), height: , United States Senate Art Collection. Bust of Elihu Yale (1901), Yale Club of New York City. Grundmann had been Elwell's teacher at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bust of James E. Mooney, height: , Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio. Bust of Robert Miller Walmsley (marble), Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. Relief bust of Edwin Booth (bronze, 1895), Overall: , Edwin Booth Monument, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stanford White, architect The New Life (bronze, 1899), Bonney Memorial, Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts, Henry Bacon, architect. Plaster version, ex collection: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Equestrian Statue of Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock (bronze, 1896), Sculpture: , Overall: , Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 7th Rhode Island Infantry Monument (bronze 1908), Sculpture: , Overall: , Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi Bust of Brigadier General Andrew J. Smith (bronze, 1911), Bust: , Overall: , Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi Relief bust of Colonel Cyrus Bussey (bronze, 1911), height: , Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi Relief bust of Colonel William Wade (bronze, 1912), height: , Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi Statue of Major General Frederick Steele (bronze, 1912), Figure: , Overall: , Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi Statue of Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis (bronze, 1917), height: , U. S. Navy Memorial, Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Architectural sculptures Song (by 1898), bas relief panel for the house of George Alfred Townsend. Intelligence (1901), New York State Building, Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York. One of 6 cornice figures created for the portico of the Palace of Fine Arts, 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Cass Gilbert, architect. Heroic Bust of Amzi L. Dodd (marble, (1905), Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company Building, Newark, New Jersey, George B. Post, architect. Bust of William Shakespeare (limestone, 1907), height: , in niche on the façade of Scranton Memorial Library, Madison, Connecticut. Shakespeare's Mirror (bronze, cast 1975), height: , H. Aschehoug & Company Building, Oslo, Norway. Greece (limestone, 1907), cornice figure on Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, Manhattan, New York City, assisted by August Zeller. Rome (limestone, 1907), cornice figure on Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, Manhattan, New York City, assisted by August Zeller. Acrosteria (1915), Agriculture Building, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California.