MacMonnies, Frederick

Frederick (1863-), an American artist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. His mother was of Puritan descent, a grandniece of Benjamin West, the painter. His father was a successful importer. At five young Frederick modeled figures in dough from the kitchen table. At seven he used white wax chewing gum to model a figure of George Washington. At ten he was aroused to enthusiasm by an elephant exhibited by Barnum's circus and modeled a figure of it in clay. At seventeen he was fortunate enough to enter the studio of Saint-Gaudens, then in New York City. After assisting this eminent sculptor for a time he went to Paris and entered the School of Fine Arts. Here MacMonnies took the highest prizes awarded foreigners, and in 1889 he opened a studio of his own in the Latin Quarter. In this year he exhibited a Diana in the Salon and received honorable mention. Among the works of note executed by MacMonnies are Nathan Hale for City Hall Park, New York; Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at the Vanderbilt Avenue entrance to Prospect Park, Brooklyn; Shakespeare and Sir Harry Vane, Boston; bronze doors for the Congressional Library, Washington. Since 1900 MacMonnies has devoted himself chiefly to painting. His most noted canvas is The Cure of Giverny, Giverny being the name of the French village in which he resided for many years.