Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 8 Hiram Powers Questions: |
Hiram Powers and American Sculpture
Hiram Powers's neoclassical sculptures earned him international fame. His portrait busts of U.S. presidents George Washington and Andrew Jackson, as well as of other famous people, were admired for their truthful representation of the subject, which the artist combined with the dress and dignity of a Roman senator or Greek noble. By modeling portraits on ancient types, Powers presented these leaders as moral and intellectual men who were also politically powerful. His fame was almost unprecedented for an American-born sculptor. During the first half century of the United States' existence, nearly all important COMMISSIONS for sculpture were given to European artists.
Early Euro-American sculptors primarily carved stone
grave markers and wooden objects. Because no large-scale
stone tradition existed in the United States, Powers, like
other 19th-century sculptors, spent most of his career in
Italy. As a matter of course, American sculptors studied in
Rome, a city that had been home to renowned sculptural
traditions since ancient Roman times. Most artists also
established studios there because skilled assistants were
available to carve their designs in fine Italian
marbles.
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