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The Sculptures of Daniel Chester French at Forest Hills Cemetery

Dana Pilson curatorial researcher and collections coordinator at Chesterwood, the historical home, studio, and gardens of sculptor Daniel Chester French in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, will present an illustrated talk focusing on French’s works in Jamaica Plain’s Forest Hills Cemetery.

While most well-known for his statue of the Minute Man for Concord and the colossal seated Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, French sculpted almost one hundred other monuments and memorials throughout the country. The Boston area is especially rich with outdoor, public works by French, and three notable ones can be found in Forest Hills Cemetery: the Milmore Memorial, the Clark Memorial, and the George Robert White Memorial, known as the Angel of Peace. French also sculpted a figure of young Adelbert Thayer Alden and oversaw Evelyn Beatrice Longman’s Slocum Memorial for the cemetery. Not far from Forest Hills, French’s Old Boston Post Office groups flank the entrance to the Franklin Park Zoo, and his Francis Parkman Memorial can be found in Olmsted Park, by Jamaica Pond. This talk will place these works within the trajectory of French’s illustrious career, and will include rarely-seen historical images that highlight French’s remarkable creative processes. The sculptor’s collaboration with talented female sculptor Longman and his use of his own daughter as a model will also be explored. It will be a hybrid event (in person or via Zoom)

Apr 15, 2023 02:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)