TRADITION
| Stephen's classical knowledge comes from a long tradition of great figurative artists, including: | |||||
Morris Gray, 1923
Panama-Pacific International Exposition,
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Charles Grafley (1863-1929)Charles Grafley is a significant figure in the history of the American fine arts. In figure sculpture he was one of the last great giants. Grafly's method was passed down to many incredible artists and luckily Stephen Perkin's knowledge has its foundations from Charles Grafly's teachings. This method requires great patience and long study, however the results of humanity is achieved.
Life and career Grafly was born of German, Dutch and Quaker heritage and developed an interest in art at an early age. At 17 he was apprenticed to Struthers Stoneyard, at that time one of the largest stone carving ventures in the country. He spent the next four years working on the Philadelphia City Hall, carving decorations and figures under the direction of Alexander Milne Calder. In order to improve his skills at carving figures and to improve his understanding of anatomy he began attending art school, eventually studying under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Monument to General George Meade, Washington D.C. In 1888 Grafly moved to Paris where he studied with Henri Chapu and Jean Dampt, and later gained admittance to the École des Beaux Arts, Paris. He received an Honorable Mention in the Paris Salon of 1891 for his "Mauvais Presage," now at the Detroit Institute of Art, a gold medal at the Paris Exposition, in 1900, and medals at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Atlanta, 1895, and Philadelphia (the gold Medal of Honor, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), 1899. In 1892 he became instructor in sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, also filling the same chair at the Drexel University, Philadelphia. He was a founding member of the National Sculpture Society and was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1905.
Bust of Frank Duveneck 1915 |
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Sunshine and Shadows, n.d. oil on board, 30 x 24"
Impressionist Landscape |
Henry Hensche"We must get rid of the talking painters - those who talk but do not paint, who teach in our art schools, and replace them with practicing painters who have proved by their work that they have something to teach."
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click either version 1 or 2 below, in the pop up page click on the image to see it larger:Version 1Version 2American sculptor and educator, was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born February 25,1899 in Germany, Henry Hensche came to the United States by way of Antwerp, Belgium. He arrived March 3, 1909 at Ellis Island aboard the British steamship S.S. Kroonland, along with his sister Erna, and his father Fred. He was 10 years old. Henry's mother died before he was two. As a painter and teacher of consummate skill, Hensche is considered by many in the art world to be unparalleled as a fine color visualist in the "art of seeing and painting". He has been called an iconoclast, a pioneer, and the late Grand Central Art Galleries of New York named him, "L'Enfant Terrible of Academie". He is known for teaching his students how to "key" a painting. When Henry Hensche was seventeen, he worked in the stock yards to earn the money that would send him to the Art Institute of Chicago. There he studied with tonalist George Bellows. Hensche later attended the National Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Student's League of New York, the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, and Charles Webster Hawthorne's Cape Cod School of Art. It was there in Provincetown, Massachusetts where Hensche had found his niche and calling. Just as Charles Webster Hawthorne became assistant instructor to William Merritt Chase, Henry Hensche became assistant instructor to Charles Hawthorne. It happened to be right at the time when Hawthorne was intently involved in the study of Claude Monet and his application of color according to differnet light, such as Monet's series paintings. |
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William Appleton Coolidge (1901-1992)
Plaque of a Mythological Figure |
Walker HancockHancock began his interest and passion for sculpture at an early age. Before he was 19, he won a scholarship to the Saint Louis School of Fine Arts where he studied with Victor Holm (1876-1935) and Edmund Henry Wuerpel (1866-1958), as well as attended the School of Fine Arts at Washington University and the University of Wisconsin. By 1919, Hancock had created four bronze memorials tablets for the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Saint Louis, and two schools in Saint Louis.From 1921 to 1925, when Hancock won the Prix de Rome, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Charles Grafly (1862-1929). Hancock did very well there; he won the Cresson Traveling Scholarship in 1922 and 1923, and the George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal for his sculpture Toivo (1924), which he had entered in the academy's annual exhibition. The Prix de Rome was a significant award, and provided Hancock the opportunity to study in Rome and be exposed to classical art. Hancock was strongly influenced by the experience and never lost his ties to the American Academy in Rome. He returned as a sculptor-in-residence at the academy in 1956-57 and again in 1962-63. After his return to the United States, he replaced Grafly as the head of the sculpture department at the Pennsylvania Academy and won the academy's fellowship in 1932 for his sculpture Bird Charmer. Hancock also received the academy's gold medal of honor and was elected President of their Fellowship in 1952. He also taught at the Art Students League and at the National Academy of Design. The majority of Hancock's work consists of public commissions from portrait statues to friezes on public buildings to war memorials. Most notable is his work at the 1939 New York World's Fair and his World War II memorials at the Thirtieth Street Railroad Station in Philadelphia (1948) and at the Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint Avold, France (1960). Installed in 1988, in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, is his portrait in marble of Chief Justice Warren Burger. Hancock also worked on a bust of President George Bush Sr., which was commissioned while Bush was President of the United States Senate. |
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