New York City Mounted Policeman in the Rain
Bronze
11 1/2 x 10 7/8 x 4 in
Biography
A sculptor in the tradition of Frederic Remington, Sally J. Farnham had studios in New York City and Great Neck, New York. She did numerous statuettes, portrait busts of prominent individuals, and friezes. Farnham was also known for her western works, which she began in 1905.
In Farnham’s childhood, which she spent in Ogdensburg, New York she became a skilled rider and hunter and was particularly interested in horse anatomy. Her parents took her to Europe several times, and she became very interested in sculpture after visiting numerous museums throughout her travels. Farnham did not develop her interest I sculpture, however, until after her marriage in 1896 to Paulding Farnham, who was a painter and designer for Tiffany. While recovering from an illness, Farnham began experimenting with plasticine, a synthetic modeling material given to her by her husband. Her first work, a model of a Spanish Dancer, was the subject of both ridicule and encouragement by her friend Frederic Remington who called it "all-fired ugly”. Remington also concluded, however, that this first work had a great deal of vitality.
Soon after the completion of her first work, Farnham opened a studio, and was filling commissions while raising three children. Her most noted work is the equestrian statue of Simon Bolivar for Central Park in New York City. This sculpture earned her special recognition from the government of Venezuela, who awarded her the "Order of the Bust of Bolivar". Farnham also did a monument of Father Junipero Serra (1925) for the San Fernando Mission in Los Angeles and in 1938, an equestrian statue of Will Rogers.
In 1905, Farnham took a trip to a ranch in British Columbia and was inspired to create a number of action-cowboy statuettes with titles such as "Scratchin' 'im", "Going To Town", and "Horse and Rider".
Primarily self-taught, Farnham looked to Frederic Remington as her mentor and is best known for her portraits, which were defined as good character studies.
