Widener Gold Medal
Prize awarded by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1913-1968)
The George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal was a prestigious sculpture prize awarded by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1913 to 1968. Established in 1912, it recognized the "most meritorious work of Sculpture modeled by an American citizen and shown in the Annual Exhibition." PAFA's annual exhibitions were open to all American sculptors, but an individual could be awarded the medal only once. Sculptors Paul Manship , Albin Polasek , Malvina Hoffman , Carl Paul Jennewein , Anna Hyatt Huntington , William Zorach and Leonard Baskin were among its recipients.
George Dunton Widener had been a Philadelphia businessman and a director of PAFA. He and his son Harry died in 1912 aboard the RMS Titanic .
The Widener Gold Medal was retired in 1968. Beginning in 1969, PAFA devoted its annual exhibitions solely to work by students in its school.
List of Recipients
Year
Sculptor
Image
Work
Medium
Collection
Notes
1913
Charles Grafly
Head of Thomas Pollock Anshutz [ 1]
bronze
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1914
Paul Manship
Duck Girl
bronze
Rittenhouse Square , Philadelphia
1915
Albin Polasek
Aspiration [ 2] [ 3]
bronze
Detroit Institute of Arts
A seated female nude holding musical pipes and kissing a cherub.
1916
Edward McCartan
The Spirit of the Woods [ 4]
bronze
"Welwyn" (Harold Pratt estate),Glen Cove, Long Island, New York
A nude female figure dancing with a baby. Another example is at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College.
1917
Attilio Piccirilli
The Flower of the Alps
marble
A bronze version was auctioned at Sotheby's NY, October 2, 2015.[ 5]
1918
Albert Laessle
Penguins [ 6]
bronze
Philadelphia Zoo , West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Other examples are at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco , Brookgreen Gardens ,[ 7] and elsewhere.
1919
Jess M. Lawson (later Jess Lawson Peacey)
Belgium, 1914
First woman sculptor awarded the Widener Gold Medal. Also awarded the 1918 Barnett Prize from the National Academy of Design.
1920
Malvina Hoffman
The Offering [ 8]
bronze
Glenbow Museum , Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1921
Evelyn Beatrice Longman
The Future [ 9] [ 10]
bronze
Nashville Parthenon , Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee
A standing female nude. Also awarded the 1918 Shaw Prize from the National Academy of Design, and the 1919 French Gold Medal from the Art Institute of Chicago.
1922
Beatrice Fenton
A Sea-Weed Fountain [ 11]
bronze
Horticultural Hall, West Fairmount Park , Philadelphia
Another example is at Brookgreen Gardens .
1923
Brenda Putnam
Sea Horse Sundial [ 12] [ 13]
bronze
Private collection, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Also awarded the 1922 Barnett Prize from the National Academy of Design.
1924
Arthur Lee
Volupté [ 14] [ 15] Voluptuousness
marble
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Other examples are at the Brooklyn Museum , the Museum of Modern Art , the Yale University Art Gallery , and in private collections.
1925
Walker Hancock
Toivo [ 16] [ 17]
bronze
St. Louis Art Museum
A bust of a Finnish youth. Another bronze example is at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston .
1926
Adolph Alexander Weinman
Narcissus [ 18] [ 19]
bronze
Norton Museum of Art , West Palm Beach, Florida
A marble example is at Brookgreen Gardens .[ 20]
1927
Katherine Lane Weems
Narcisse Noir [ 21] [ 22] Black Whippet
bronze
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Other examples are at the Reading Public Museum and the Museum of Science (Boston) .
1928
Albert Stewart
Silver King Polar Bear [ 23]
silvered bronze
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Also awarded the 1927 Speyer Prize from the National Academy of Design.
1929
Bruce Moore
Black Panther [ 24] [ 25]
bronze
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Other examples are at the Whitney Museum , and elsewhere.
1930
Mitchell Fields
Torso (Naomi }
marble
Wilfrid Israel Museum, Hazorea, Israel
1931
Gladys Edgerly Bates
Eve
1932
Carl Paul Jennewein
Indian and Eagle [ 26] Monument to the American Dead
gilded bronze plaster
Tours War Memorial,Tours, France
The sculpture is the centerpiece of a fountain. Jennewein's plaster model is at the Pérez Art Museum Miami .[ 27] Another bronze example is at Brookgreen Gardens .[ 28]
1933
John Gregory
Lyric Love [ 29] [ 30] Monument for an Aviator's Grave
Carrara marble
Armstrong Browning Library,Baylor University , Waco, Texas
A winged female figure, partially nude.
1934
Concetta Scaravaglione
Mother and Child [ 31]
plaster
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts , Richmond, Virginia
1935
Heinz Warneke
Wild Boars [ 32]
marble
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Another marble example is unlocated.
1936
Vincent Glinsky
The Awakening [ 33] [ 34]
marble
Brookgreen Gardens
A female nude reclining on a rock.
1937
Anna Hyatt Huntington
Greyhounds Playing [ 35]
bronze
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1938
Anthony de Francisci
Gilda, the Artist's Daughter [ 36] [ 37]
plaster
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Bas relief head.
1939
Harry Rosin
Eugenie
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Head of a Tahitian model.
1940
Carl L. Schmitz
(Model for) Foreign Trade [ 38] [ 39]
painted plaster
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Foreign Trade is a limestone relief panel on the exterior of the Federal Trade Commission Building , Washington, D.C.[ 40]
1941
Dorothea Greenbaum
Tiny [ 41]
bronze
Institute for Advanced Study , Princeton, New Jersey
A standing female nude.
1942
Janet de Coux
Deborah's Song
1943
Henry Kreis[ 42]
The Birth of a Nation [ 43]
limestone
Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial Sculpture Garden,Fairmount Park , Kelly Drive, Philadelphia
Located along the east bank of the Schuylkill River.
1944
Cecil de Blaquiere Howard [ 44]
American Youth
Plaster
Private collection
Cecil Howard posing in US Army uniform in his New York studio in 1944, before his departure for London with the OSS. He stands by his daughter Line's portrait bust and "American Youth," also entitled "The Sacrifice," his sculpture symbolyzing the American Army's entry into war.
1945
José de Creeft
Head of Rachmaninoff [ 45] [ 46]
lead
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1946
Waldemar Raemisch
Pietà
1947
Adolph Dioda
Crucifix
1948
Herbert Lewis Kammerer
Head and Shoulders with Bent Arms
1949
Mitzi Solomon (later Mitzi Cunliffe)
A Voluptuous Object
pink marble
1950
Hugo Robus
Dawn [ 47]
plaster
Fonderia Battaglia, Milan, Italy
A life-size female nude yawning and stretching. Bronze examples are in private collections.
1951
Oronzio Maldarelli
Bianca, No. 2 [ 48]
bronze
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Other examples are at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
1952
Jacques Lipchitz
Prometheus Strangling the Vulture [ 49]
bronze
Philadelphia Museum of Art
PMA bought Lipchitz's plaster model, and commissioned him to cast it in bronze, 1953. Another example is at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
1953
Anthony Lauck
Monk at Prayer [ 50]
limestone
Butler Institute of American Art , Youngstown, Ohio
Rev. Lauck was a Roman Catholic priest and an art instructor at the University of Notre Dame .[ 51]
1954
Koren Der Harootian
Descent from the Cross
1955
Student exhibition
1956
Theodore Roszak
Hound of Heaven [ 52] [ 53]
steel with nickel and copper
Museum of Modern Art , New York City
1957
Student exhibition
1958
Kahlil Gibran
Voice in the Wilderness [ 54] [ 55]
welded iron
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1959
Student exhibition
1960
Lee Bontecou
Bird [ 56]
bronze
Chase Manhattan Bank , New York City
1961
Student exhibition
1962
William Zorach
Puma [ 57]
plaster
University Gallery, University of Delaware , Newark, Delaware
Other examples in bronze and granite are at Fairmount Park , Philadelphia; National Museum of Wildlife Art , Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and in private collections.
1963
Student exhibition
1964
Geraldine McCullough [ 58]
Phoenix
Other works include: Martin Luther King, Jr sculpture in Springfield, IL , Pathfinder in Oak Park, IL , and Our King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Chicago, IL
1965
Student exhibition
1966
Leonard Baskin
Seated Woman [ 59] [ 60]
carved oak
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1967
Student exhibition
1968
Seymour Lipton
Gateway [ 61]
nickel and monel metal
National Gallery of Art , Washington, D.C.
See also
References
^ Thomas Anshutz , from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
^ Aspiration , from SIRIS.
^ Aspiration , from Albin Polacek Museum & Sculpture Garden.
^ Spirit of the Woods , from Christie's, 24 May 2007, Lot 8.
^ Flower of the Alps , from Sotheby's, 2 October 2015, Lot 75.
^ Penguins , from SIRIS.
^ Robin R. Salmon, Sculpture of Brookgreen Gardens .
^ The Offering , from SIRIS.
^ The Future , from SIRIS.
^ The Future
^ Seaweed Fountain , from SIRIS.
^ Sea Horse Sundial , from SIRIS.
^ Sea Horse Sundial is illustrated on p. 14: Ferargil Galleries, Sculpture for the Garden , exhibition catalogue (no date).[1] from Frick Art Reference Library.
^ Volupte , from SIRIS.
^ Volupté , from Metropolitan Museum of Art.
^ Toivo , from SIRIS.
^ Toivo , from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
^ Narcissus , from SIRIS.
^ Narcissus , from Charleston Renaissance Gallery.
^ Narcissus , from SIRIS.
^ Narcisse Noir , from SIRIS.
^ Narcisse Noir , from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
^ Silver King , from Metropolitan Museum of Art.
^ Black Panther , from SIRIS.
^ Black Panther , from Smithsonian American Art Museum.
^ Tours War Memorial , from SIRIS.
^ Model for Tours War Memorial , from SIRIS.
^ Indian and Eagle , from Brookgreen Collection.
^ Lyric Love , from SIRIS.
^ Lyric Love (scroll down for image) , from Armstrong Browning Library, Baylor University.
^ Mother and Child , from SIRIS.
^ "Wild Boars" . Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved February 24, 2014 .
^ The Awakening , from SIRIS.
^ "The Awakening," cover, National Sculpture Review , Spring 1968.
^ Greyhounds Playing , from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
^ The Artist's Daughter Gilda , from SIRIS.
^ Gilda, the Artist's Daughter , from Smithsonian American Art Museum.
^ Foreign Trade , from SIRIS.
^ Foreign Trade , from Smithsonian American Art Museum.
^ Foreign Trade , from SIRIS.
^ Tiny , from SIRIS.
^ The American Catholic Who's Who , Volume 7 By Georgina Pell Curtis, Benedict Elder
^ The Birth of a Nation , from SIRIS.
^ National Sculpture Review, vol. 5, number 3, fall 1956, p.6. Page en the french Wikipedia : Cecil Howard
^ Rachmaninoff , from SIRIS.
^ Rachmaninoff , from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
^ Dawn , from SIRIS.
^ Bianca II , from SIRIS.
^ Prometheus Strangling the Vulture , from SIRIS.
^ Monk at Prayer , from SIRIS.
^ Anthony Lauck Papers , from University of Notre Dame.
^ Hound of Heaven , from SIRIS.
^ Hound of Heaven from TheodoreRoszak.com
^ Voice in the Wilderness , from SIRIS.
^ Voice in the Wilderness , from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
^ Bird , from SIRIS.
^ Puma , from SIRIS.
^ Geraldine McCullough, 1917–2008
^ Seated Woman , from SIRIS.
^ Seated Woman , from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
^ Gateway , from SIRIS.