Adolph Alexander Weinman (December 11, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was a German-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor.

Early life and education

Adolph Alexander Weinman was born in Durmersheim, near Karlsruhe, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 14. At 15, he attended evening classes at Cooper Union. He later studied at the Art Students League of New York with sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Philip Martiny.

Career

thumb|Weinman (center, on the ladder next to the large seated portrait of Lincoln) in his New York studio, c. 1906

He was an assistant to the sculptors Charles Niehaus, Olin Warner, and Daniel Chester French before opening his studio in 1904. Although Weinman is now best remembered as a medalist, he considered himself to be an architectural sculptor. His steadiest income was derived from the sale of small bronze reproductions of his larger works, such as Descending Night, originally commissioned for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915.

thumb|Portrait of Weinman by [[Anthony de Francisci, 1915]]

Weinman was a member of the National Sculpture Society and served as its president from 1927 to 1930. His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1933. He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Academy of Design, and the New York City Art Commission, among other organizations. Elsewhere he created the dramatic frieze on the Elks National Veterans Memorial in Chicago and executed sculpture for the Post Office Department Building, the Jefferson Memorial, and the interior of the U.S. Supreme Court, all in Washington, D.C.

Weinman's non-architectural works include the Macomb and the Maybury monuments in Detroit.

Weinman collaborated with Polish American sculptor Joseph Kiselewski to create a sculpture on the Bronx County Court House in New York City in the early 1930s.

Weinman was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited at the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949.

Weinman's works are mostly executed in a lyrical neoclassical style. His figures typically wear classical drapery, but his work also shows a fluidity that foreshadows the Art Deco style that was to follow. His bronze statuette The Nude Golfer epitomizes this style. This work evokes classical sculpture in its attention to anatomy and movement, and the nude status of the athlete, while the subject, a modern golfer, provides a modern twist.

Weinman also taught; among his pupils was Eleanor Mary Mellon.

Selected works

Sculpture

  • General Alexander Macomb (1906–1908), Detroit, Michigan.
  • Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1909), Wyman Park, Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Abraham Lincoln (1909), Hodgenville, Kentucky. A replica of this is at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  • Alexander Johnston Cassatt, (1910), Pennsylvania Station, New York City. The reverse shows an architectural tablet inscribed with "Gold Medal" and "Louisiana Purchase Exposition". Below the tablet are two dolphins symbolizing the nation's eastern and western boundaries, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Above the tablet is a large eagle with its wings spread. The inscription reads: "Gold Medal (Silver and Bronze Medals were also given out) Louisiana Purchase Exposition 1904". In addition to the medal, a diploma of award was also given to the recipient. The medal weighs approximately 3.5 ounces.
  • Mercury dime (1916–1945). More than two billion Mercury dimes were minted before they were replaced by the Roosevelt dime in 1946. The design is now used as the obverse of the American Palladium Eagle coin, which has been produced since 2017.
  • Walking Liberty half dollar (1916–1947). Replaced by the Franklin half dollar (1948). Weinman's carving is now used as the obverse of the American Silver Eagle coin, which has been produced since 1986.
  • J. Sanford Saltus Medal Award – awarded by the American Numismatic Society. Weinman was the second recipient of this medal.
  • Identical reverses of the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the American Campaign Medal.

References

Notes

Bibliography

  • Kvaran and Lockley, A Guide to the Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript
  • Adolph A. Weinman Papers at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
  • Artist page at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Adolph Weinman - Master Engraver
  • A.A. Weinman (1870-1952) at the R. W. Norton Art Gallery