Francis Edwin Elwell

Francis Edwin Elwell (also cited as Frank Edwin Elwell) (1858-1922) was an American sculptor.

Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Elwell was orphaned at age four and, according to various sources, was adopted by author Louisa May Alcott [http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?artist=106202 Elwell bio at AskArt.com] ] or grew up under the care of his grandfather, a Mr. Farrar.cite book| author=Taft, Lorado| title= [http://books.google.com/books?id=6LkjIpkV-rAC&pg=RA1-PA411&lpg=RA1-PA411&dq=%22frank+edwin+elwell%22&source=web&ots=1MWPBAB1PN&sig=LWygn8PRSBoxovoIlQhhW9AOg5c The History of American Sculpture] | location=New York | publisher=Macmillan (reprinted by Ayer Company Publishing)| year=1903 (reprinted 1969) | id=ISBN 040502228X]

Elwell received his first instruction in art from May Alcott’s sister, Abigail May Alcott, who also taught noted sculptor Daniel Chester French. [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Sculpture_22_00022.htm Levi P. Morton bust in the U.S. Senate] ] In 1881, he moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and later privately with Alexandre Falguière. Elwell later studied under French and shared a studio with him in New York City.

Elwell’s works are numerous and varied. He exhibited at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and later served as curator of ancient and modern sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Elwell is further represented in the Senate’s Vice Presidential Bust Collection by a marble bust of Garret A. Hobart.

His works include:
*"Seventh Rhode Island Infantry Memorial" at the Vicksburg, Mississippi National Military Park.
*"Dickens and Little Nell" (1890), Clark Park, bought by the Fairmount Park Art Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*"Levi P. Morton" (1891), marble bust in the U.S. Senate.
*"Death of Strength," in the cathedral garden at Edam, Holland
*"Bust of Mr. Peter Esselmont," Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland
*"Diana and the Lion" (1893), Art Institute of Chicago.
*"Egypt Awaking," bought at the Paris Salon of 1896 by M. Gabriel Goupillat of Paris.
*"Memorial to Edwin Booth", Mount Auburn, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
*Equestrian statue of "General Winfield Scott Hancock" (1896), on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
*"New Life" (1899), Lowell cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts, property of Hon. Charles Sumner Lilley, called the "Bonney Memorial." (plaster in Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts).
*"Orchid" (1899), owned by Theodore B. Starr, New York City.
*"Aqua Viva", property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
*"Andrew McMillan Memorial", Utica, New York.
*"Kronos".
*"Pan-American Fountain" (1901).
*"Intelligence" (1901), in front of New York state building for the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York.
*"Elihu Yale" (1901), Yale Club of New York City.

Elwell died in Darien, Connecticut.

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9504E3DF1E39E433A25757C0A9649D94699ED7CF&oref=slogin 1898 article about Elwell] by Theodore Dreiser in the New York Times
* [http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/detail.aspx?ImageId=6319 1910 photo of "Dickens and Little Nell" at PhillyHistory.org]
* [http://www.philart.net/artist.php?id=63 "Dickens and Little Nell" at Philart.net]
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/ri/ri_stm.htm Photos of Rhode Island infantry memorial in Vicksburg]

References