Avard Fairbanks | |
|---|---|
 Fairbanks (ca. 1914) | |
| Born | Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (1897-03-02)March 2, 1897 Provo, Utah, US |
| Died | January 1, 1987(1987-01-01) (aged 89) Salt Lake City, Utah, US |
| Resting place | Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery 40°44′28″N111°49′23″W / 40.741°N 111.823°W /40.741; -111.823 (Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery) |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Sculptor |
| Spouse | Beatrice M. Fox |
| Parent | John B Fairbanks |
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (March 2, 1897 – January 1, 1987) was a 20th-century American sculptor. Over his eighty-year career, he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks.[1] Fairbanks is known for his religious-themed commissions forthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) including theThree Witnesses,Tragedy of Winter Quarters, and severalAngel Moroni sculptures on spires of the church'stemples.[2] Additionally, Fairbanks sculpted over a dozenAbraham Lincoln-themed sculptures and busts among which the most well-known reside in theU.S. Supreme Court Building and Ford's Theatre Museum.[3]
From a young age, Fairbanks was a talented artist. At 13 years old, he attended theArt Students League of New York on scholarship and his work was displayed at theNational Academy of Design a year later. In 1913, he studied abroad in Paris at theÉcole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts where he was the youngest student admitted to the French salons. He taught sculpture at several universities and attended medical school at the University of Michigan where he earned a doctorate in anatomical studies in order to better represent the human body in his art.
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was born on March 2, 1897, in Provo, Utah.[2][4] He was the last and eleventh child of the artistJohn B Fairbanks and Lilly Annetta Huish.[5] Fairbanks was introduced to art by his father and his brother,John Leo Fairbanks. His first piece of art was a small, clay rabbit that won first prize in the 1909Utah State Fair.[2] However, after the judge learned of Fairbanks's young age, he revoked the prize.[6]: 1 Fairbanks joined his father in New York City to copy art pieces at the Metropolitan Museum, where he was reluctantly received by the curators due to his inexperience. However, he showed great skill and was called a "young Michelangelo" by theNew York Herald, which led to other commissions such as animal models for the Bronx Zoological Gardens.[6]: 1 There, he was instructed byAnna Hyatt Huntington andCharles R. Knight.[6]: 2
He attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship at age 13, instructed byJames Earle Fraser.[7][2] By the age of 14, his art was displayed at theNational Academy of Design.[6]: 2 He returned to Utah after 18 months studying in New York, to prepare to study art abroad.[2] Fairbanks and his father tried to obtain as many commissions as possible to pay for his study abroad.[6]: 2 Among these commissions was a lion he sculpted out of butter for the Utah State Fair, channeling thebutter sculpture fable ofAntonio Canova.[2][8]: 145 This sculpture attracted a large audience and was well received.[6]: 2
In 1913, Fairbanks studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, instructed byJean Antoine Injalbert.[6]: 2 Additionally, he studied at theAcadémie de la Grande Chaumière, theAcadémie Colarossi, and the École Moderne.[6]: 2 He became the youngest student admitted to theFrench Salon; however, his studies were cut short due toWorld War I.[7][2] Fairbanks and his father escaped Europe on the last train out of Paris and the last spots available on the boatAnsonia leaving Liverpool, returning to New York with only fifteen cents between the two of them.[6]: 2
After returning from Paris, Fairbanks continued his artistry in Utah, focusing on clay modeling while completing high school.[9][2] Some of his pieces were displayed in thePanama–Pacific International Exposition in thePalace of Fine Arts.[6]: 2 In 1915, he received his first major commission sculpting statues and an elaborate frieze on theLaie Hawaii Temple for the LDS Church with his brother, J. Leo.[9][2] His romantic interest, Beatrice Maude Fox, from Taylorsville, Utah, joined him in Hawaii.[6]: 2 They married on June 25, 1918, in Honolulu, Hawaii.[2][10] After the project was finished in 1918, Fairbanks and Fox returned to Utah, where he enrolled at theUniversity of Utah (U of U).[2] Due to his extensive artistic training, he took other academic courses and did not complete course study in art.[6]: 2
In 1920, he became an assistant professor of art at theUniversity of Oregon, teaching sculpture.[6]: 3 [11] Fairbanks took a sabbatical to study atYale University, earning aBachelor of Fine Arts degree and returned to instruct at University of Oregon.[6]: 3 Fairbanks was offered a Guggenheim Fellowship to study art in Europe. Bringing his wife and four children along, he studied in England, France, and Italy; however, he spent most of his time in Florence, Italy.[6]: 3 Fairbanks studied underneathDante Sodini. He created work for Arciconfraternita della Misericordia during this time as well as sculptures in the theme of spring and motherhood.[12][6]: 3 When Fairbanks returned in 1928, he taught a summer class[13][14] atSeattle Art Museum.[6]: 3 In 1929, he received aMaster of Fine Arts degree from theUniversity of Washington, where he would construct the91st Division Monument.[4][6]: 3 In 1933, Fairbanks, joined by his father and brother, created the Mormon Display for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Fairbanks sculpted, his brother made stained glass, and his father painted.[8]: 148–149 Fairbanks and his family moved toAnn Arbor, Michigan where he attended medical school, earning MA and Ph.D. degrees in Anatomy in 1933 and 1936 respectively from theUniversity of Michigan.[6]: 3 He did this in order to better and more accurately represent the human body in his work.[8]: 89 He began to use anatomical techniques in his subsequent artworks.[6]: 3 He was appointed professor of sculpture at the University of Michigan in 1930 and taught sculpture there until 1948.[15] While Fairbanks was living in Ann Arbor, he served for a time as thepresident of thebranch of the LDS Church there.[2]
In 1947, Fairbanks created the Fine Arts Department at the U of U.[9][6]: 4 He served as dean and professor of Fine Art at the College of Fine Arts at the U of U from 1948 to 1955. He retired as dean in 1955, but continued teaching at the U of U for 10 years.[16] At the U of U, his conservative philosophy was that "modern abstraction was part of an international communist conspiracy."[17][18] In 1965, he became a resident sculptor, fine arts consultant, and lecturer at theUniversity of North Dakota (UND).[6]: 7 After working at UND, Fairbanks retired, spending the rest of his life creating commissioned works.[3] Fairbanks died in Salt Lake City on January 1, 1987.[10]
Fairbanks sculpted the statues of theAngel Moroni for the LDS Church on theWashington, D.C.,Denver Colorado,Jordan River Utah,Mexico City Mexico,Seattle Washington, andSão Paulo Brazil temples.[19][7][20] Fairbanks also sculptedTragedy of Winter Quarters in theMormon Pioneer Cemetery at theWinter Quarters Historical Site.[21][22] This project was particularly meaningful to him because his ancestors suffered atWinter Quarters when it was an encampment.[8]: 39
Many of the sculptures onTemple Square in Salt Lake City are by Fairbanks, including theThree Witnesses Monument.[23] In 1957, his workRestoration of the Aaronic Priesthood was added to Temple Square;[24] a relief version of this sculpture was added to thePriesthood Restoration Site in 1960.[25] A companion piece,Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood, was also created for Temple Square and was displayed in the Mormon Pavilion at the1964 New York World's Fair.[26][27]
Although most of his later work was free-standing sculptures, Fairbanks did create several friezes for theHarold B. Lee Library on theBrigham Young University campus.[7]
In the 1920s, Fairbanks sculpted the St. Anthony's Doughboy which resides in Keefer Park in Idaho.[28] While Fairbanks was a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon,[29] he created hisOregon Trail sculpture. Around 1925–26, he designed severalbas relief panels, cast in bronze, for large doors of theUnited States National Bank Building in Portland. The door's panels represent ideals of American life such as "Knowledge and Service", "Domestic Welfare", and "Progress through Direction".[30]
_-_12.JPG)
Fairbanks made a statue ofLycurgus and was consequently knighted by KingPaul of Greece.[9][31] Other monuments he created include the Pony Express, Pioneer family (at the Bismarck State Capitol),Daniel Jackling (at the Utah State Capitol), and Prime Minister of Canada McKenzie King (at Ottawa Parliament buildings).[7]
He also did multiple statues ofAbraham Lincoln at Ford Theater and the U.S. Supreme Court (includingThe Chicago Lincoln) andThe Resolute Lincoln atLincoln's New Salem.[32][7] His statueLincoln the Friendly Neighbor, commissioned for the anniversary of Lincoln's 150th birthday in 1959 by Lincoln Federal Savings and Loan Association ofBerwyn, Illinois, sits today outside of Berwyn's Lincoln Middle School.[33]
Additionally, he designed and sculpted aGeorge Washington statue at the Washington State Capitol Building.[7] Other prominent figures he sculpted included John Burke,Esther Morris, andMarcus Whitman, residing in the National Capitol Building.[7] He created the Pegasus sculpture in the northeast garden at theMeadow Brook Hall inRochester Hills, Michigan.[34] He also created anEzra Meeker bust for the University of Oregon and a tabernacle door for the Altar of St. Mary's Cathedral in Eugene, Oregon.[35] Additionally, Fairbanks constructed a 200-pound bronze medallion to commemorate theOregon Trail.[36] He also created a bust ofRoscoe Pound in 1981 for theNebraska Hall of Fame.
Three of his sculptures are in theUnited States Capitol, two of them in National Statuary Hall and one in a corridor;[37] seven other statues are placed in Washington, D.C. The state capitols in Washington, North Dakota,Utah andWyoming, as well as numerous other locations, also have his works. Possibly his most widely distributed artistic contribution was the chargingram symbol of theDodge automobile.[2] Other radiator ornaments he designed included the Winged Mermaid of the Plymouth and a Griffin for the Hudson automobiles.[38]: 38 [39]
Avard Fairbanks was a son of John B. Fairbanks, an artist who also had studied in Paris art academies[40] and was briefly an art professor atBrigham Young Academy.[41] His mother, Lilly Annetta Huish, died on May 12, 1898, about a year after he was born as a result of an injury related to a fall she had while she was carrying the fourteen-month-old Fairbanks.[8]: 127 Avard's brother, J. Leo Fairbanks, was also an artist who had studied both painting and sculpture in the Paris art academies; Fairbanks considered his brother his first instructor and his mentor.[38]: vii
Fairbanks had eight biological sons. Justin served as director of the art department at Eastern Arizona University.[2]Jonathan Leo Fairbanks was the curator of theBoston Museum of Fine Arts in the early 1990s.[2] Jonathan served as director of art and architecture for Salt Lake City Schools until he was appointed Professor of Art and Chairman of the Art Department atOregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.[42] Elliot was a dean at the College of Eastern Utah. Eugene, Virgil, David, and Grant became physicians.[2] Avard Jr. was a physicist and inventor.[43] His second eldest son, Eugene F. Fairbanks, compiled 10 books using archival material to illustrate his father's sculpture career.[44] According to Abbott's book,My Return, Fairbanks also briefly served as a foster parent toJack Henry Abbott.[45] In 1956, after completing theLycurgus in Sparta, Fairbanks and his wife adopted two young Greek sisters.[2]
Fairbanks was a member of many organizations and societies, includingNational Sculpture Society, theArchitectural League of New York, the International Institute of Arts and Letters, the Protetore Della Contrada Della Torre da Siena, Italy, and the Circolo Delgi Artisti di Firenzi. He was also an honorary member of the Society of Oregon Artists.[6]: 7 Fairbanks was awarded Herbert Adams Memorial Medal by the National Sculpture Society for his contributions to American sculpture.[6]: 7 Additionally,Paul of Greece awarded Fairbanks a medal of the Knights of Thermopylae. Fairbanks received an honorary doctorate of fine arts fromLincoln College and the Lincoln Diploma of Honor fromLincoln Memorial University.[6]: 7 Moreover, he received the Sesquicentennial Commission of the Congress of the United States.[6]: 7
john b fairbanks genealogy.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
