Chief Black Bird
Bronze
16 1/4 x 15 5/8 x 12 in
Biography
Born in Kalsruhe, Germany on December 11, 1870 Adolph Alexander Weinman moved to the United States in 1880. Weinman studied at the Cooper Union and the Art Students League in New York. It was at the Art Students League where he was noticed by Augustus-Saint Gaudens (1848-1907) and shortly thereafter at age twenty he entered Philip Martiny’s (1858-1927) studio. During Weinman’s years of training he assisted numerous great sculptors such as Saint-Gaudens, Olin Levi Warner (1844-1896), Charles Niehaus (1855-1935), and Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). In 1904 after his vast training in the United States, he opened his own studio in New York City.
Weinman’s interest in medallic art increased while working on the Library of Congress doors and by viewing a display of European medals at the Columbian Exposition. This intrigue led him to embark on a series of relief portraits. Weinman’s increased skill led him to design the United States half dollar and dime in 1916. In 1920 Weinman received the J. Sanford Saltus Medal of the American Numismatic Society in recognition of his great medallic achievements.
The first sculpture that brought Weinman recognition was The Destiny of the Red Man, an exciting group of Indians and a buffalo, which was made for the Saint Louis Exposition (1904). Other distinguished early monuments include the Maryland Union Soldiers’ and the Saliors’ Monument, both in Baltimore Maryland. The first monument that really looks original in style to Weinman is the statue of General Macomb, which was unveiled in Detroit, Michigan in 1908. The treatment of this sculpture is more decorative in nature with the general’s cloak blowing forward and the flowing lines of the work are clear-cut, which are characteristic of Weinman’s mature style. During this budding of style was when two statues of Abraham Lincoln were created—one seated and one standing—both were produced for the state of Kentucky. This bronze head of Lincoln is a unique cast which is from Weinman’s seated Lincoln located in Hodgenville, Kentucky.
Weinman also became a master of architectural sculpture and his early architectural works were created in a classic-Renaissance manner, but in time Weinman’s work became more stylized and was inspired more by art noveau. Weinman made contributions to many Washington, D.C. buildings that were erected in the 1930s in the neoclassical style. He also created friezes for the Supreme Court Room and pediments for the Post Office Building and the National Archives Building. One of Weinman’s last monuments was a memorial to Oscar S. Straus, which was placed in the Commerce Department Building Plaza in 1947.
Bronzes of the American Indian are another important aspect of Weinman’s oeuvre. He developed an interest in the American Indian as a sculptural subject while working in Warner’s studio. Warner was one of the first sculptors to create noble, individual portraits of the American Indian. As stated earlier The Destiny of the Red Man brought notoriety to Weinman who was trying to “symbolize the passing of an heroic race, the North American Indian.” While working on The Destiny of the Red Man, Weinman studied various tribes of Indians and from these studies created his most distinguished portrait: Chief Blackbird. The modeling of Weinman’s Indian portraits was precise and smooth with hard outlines that tended to be more decorative than emotional in nature.
Two of Weinman’s most popular monuments are The Rising Sun and The Descending Night which were created for the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915) and are currently at the Houston Museum in Texas. These sculptures with their upward and downward soaring lines, truly capture the moods of morning and evening.
A. Alexander Weinman died on August 8, 1952 in Port Chester, New York.
