| Cyrus Edwin Dallin | |
|---|---|
Cyrus E. Dallin, circa 1880 |
|
| Born | November 22, 1861 Springville, Utah |
| Died | November 14, 1944 (aged 82) |
| Occupation | American sculptor and Olympic archer |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Archery | ||
| Bronze | 1904 St. Louis | Team round |
Cyrus Edwin Dallin (November 22, 1861 – November 14, 1944) was an American sculptor and Olympic archer.
He created more than 260 works, including well-known statues of Paul Revere and Native Americans. He also sculpted the statue of the Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake City Temple, which has become a symbol for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is generally the pattern for further Angel Moroni statues on the spires of subsequent LDS Temples.
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Dallin, the son of Thomas and Jane (Hamer) Dallin, was born in Springville, Utah, to a family then belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At age 19, he moved to Boston to study sculpture with Truman Howe Bartlett. He studied in Paris, with Henri Chapu and at the Académie Julian.[1]
In 1883, he entered a competition for an equestrian statue of Paul Revere. He received a contract, but his work was not accepted until 1899. Dallin made five versions of Paul Revere; the statue was not unveiled until 1940.[2][3]
Dallin was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and turned down the initial offer to sculpt the angel Moroni for the top of the LDS Salt Lake City Temple. Dallin later accepted the job and after finishing the statue said, "My angel Moroni brought me nearer to God than anything I ever did."[4] [5]
In Boston, he became a colleague of Augustus St. Gaudens and a close friend of John Singer Sargent. He married Vittoria Colonna Murray in 1891, In 1897, he returned to Paris, and studied with Jean Dampt. He entered a Don Quixote in the Salon of 1897, and Medicine Man in the Salon of 1899, and Exposition Universelle (1900).[1] They moved to Arlington, Massachusetts in 1900, where he lived for the rest of his life, and there raised three children. He was a member of the faculty of Massachusetts Normal Art School, since re-named Massachusetts College of Art and Design, from 1899 to 1941.
At the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, Dallin competed in archery, winning the bronze medal in the team competition.[6] He finished ninth in the Double American round and 12th in the Double York round.[7]
He is remembered in Arlington, Massachusetts, with an art museum,[8] and an elementary school named in his honor.[9] More than 30 examples of his work are on display at the Springville Museum of Art, in Springville, Utah.[2]
His papers are held at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.[10]
Dallin's works include:
Appeal to the Great Spirit is the last of a four-piece series called The Epic of the Indian, including The Signal of Peace, or “the welcome” (1890); Medicine Man, or “the warning” (1899); The Protest, or “the defiance” (1904).[14][15] In 1909, the sculpture was cast in Paris and won a gold medal for its exhibition in the Paris Salon. There are three full-size casts of the sculpture: the Boston one is outside the main entrance to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The Muncie example is located at the intersection of Walnut and Granville streets, and considered by many Muncie residents to be symbolic of their city. The most recent full-size installation is in Tulsa's Woodward Park, at the intersection of 21st Street and Peoria. It was dedicated in November 1985.[16][17] Examples, of the miniature edition of nine casts, have sold for up to $10,000.[18]