Clark Mills (sculptor)

Clark Mills (1810 - 1883) was an American sculptor, best known for three versions of an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, located in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Life

He had a studio, in Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.

He had three sons; he remarried and had a step-daughter. There was some dispute over his will.^[1]

Works

In 1865 Mills made a life-cast of Abraham Lincoln's head. It is generally felt to be inferior in technical quality to the 1860 cast made by Leonard Volk, but has the advantage of showing Lincoln's entire skull, not just the face as does Volk's.^[2][3]

One of Mills' works is located in President's Park, also known as Lafayette Square, which is situated on the north portico side of the White House. The statue of Andrew Jackson was unveiled January 8, 1853. It was a Saturday on the 38th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, and according to an account by a reporter for the Washington Union, twenty thousand people attended in and around the park. Senator Stephen A. Douglas was the keynote speaker at the unveiling. There are two other castings in New Orleans, and Nashville, Tennessee.^[4]

Beginning in 1860, the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the United States Capitol, was cast in five main sections by Mills, whose bronze foundry was located on the outskirts of Washington.^[5]

Honors

In World War II, the United States liberty ship edit] Gallery

• 

  Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square

• 

  Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in Jackson Square, New Orleans

• 

  Lieutenant General George Washington in Washington Circle

References

1. ^ "Clark Mill's Estate". The New York Times. January 27, 1883. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10B16F9395F15738DDDAE0A94D9405B8384F0D3. 
2. ^ http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/lincoln/hebelongstotheages/ExhibitObjects/LifeMaskofPresidentLincoln.aspx?Enlarge=true&ImageId=9f919a4b-2f63-4022-868a-5384f915b78d%3Afe22b805-477b-48fe-9b53-487e4de25eb8%3A170&PersistentId=1%3A9f919a4b-2f63-4022-868a-5384f915b78d%3A3&ReturnUrl=%2FExhibitions%2Flincoln%2Fhebelongstotheages%2FExhibitObjects%2FLifeMaskofPresidentLincoln.aspx
3. ^ http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5176333
4. ^ http://www.neworleanspast.com/art/id4.html
5. ^ http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/Exhibitions/online/the-capitol-story/statue-of-freedom/1337-clark-mills-sculptor.html

Sources

• Meacham, Jon. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. 2008.
• Charles Colbert, "Clark Mills and the Phrenologist", The Art Bulletin, Vol. 70, No. 1 (Mar., 1988), pp. 134-137

Persondata
Name	Mills, Clark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1810
Place of birth
Date of death	1883
Place of death