Olin Levi Warner (April 9, 1844August 14, 1896) was an American sculptor and artist noted for the striking

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

portrait medallions and

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

s he created in the late 19th century.

Life

Warner was born in

Suffield, Connecticut Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, ...

. Warner's great-great-uncle was the

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

leader

Seth Warner Seth Warner (May 17, 1743 – December 26, 1784) was an American soldier. He was a Revolutionary War officer from Vermont who rose to rank of Continental colonel and was often given the duties of a brigade commander. He is best known for his l ...

. As a young man he worked as an artisan and a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator. In 1869 he had saved up enough money to move to Paris, where he studied sculpture at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French '' grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scien ...

under

François Jouffroy François Jouffroy (1 February 1806 – 25 June 1882) was a French sculptor. Biography Jouffroy was born in Dijon, France, the son of a baker, and attended the local drawing school before being admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 18 ...

, and worked as an assistant to Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. When the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...

was proclaimed in 1870, he enlisted in the Foreign Legion, resuming his studies when the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

was over (May 1871). In 1872, he removed to New York City and established a studio. He was one of the founders and a member of the

Society of American Artists The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative. The group began meeting in 1874 at the home of ...

in 1877, and an associate of the

National Academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the hu ...

of Design in 1888. A trip through the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

led to a series of Native American-themed portrait medallions. He designed the souvenir

half-dollar The term "half dollar" refers to a half-unit of several currencies that are named "dollar". One dollar ( $1) is normally divided into subsidiary currency of 100 cents, so a half dollar is equal to 50 cents. These half dollars (aka 50 cent pieces) ...

for the

Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

, held in Chicago in 1893. After meeting with little commercial success, however, he returned to live at his father's farm in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

, where he also did work for manufacturers of silver and plated ware. Towards the end of his life his sculptures became known to a wider audience. He died in 1896, after a cycling accident in New York's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. In the 1970s Warner's heirs donated his collection of personal papers to the Smithsonian

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

. Warner is credited with popularizing the

, through numerous portraits in this style. Among his best known works are: * ''May'' (1872) * "

Edwin Forrest Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849. Early life Forrest was born i ...

" (medallion, 1876) * ''

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...

'' (bust, 1876) * ''Twilight'' (1878) * ''Dancing Nymph'' (1879) * Eight portrait busts on the facade of the Brooklyn Historical Society including Michelangelo, Beethoven, Columbus, Franklin, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, a Norseman, and a Native American. (1881) * "Gov.

William Alfred Buckingham William Alfred Buckingham (May 28, 1804 – February 5, 1875) was a Republican who served as the governor of Connecticut during the Civil War and later as a United States senator. Biography Born in Lebanon, Connecticut, the son of Samuel Bucki ...

" (statue, 1883) *

Statue of William Lloyd Garrison A statue of William Lloyd Garrison by Olin Levi Warner is installed along Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was designed in 1885, cast in 1886, installed on May 13 of that year. The bronze sculpture measures appro ...

(1885) * "The Reverend William F. Morgan, D. D." (bust, 1887) *

Skidmore Fountain The Skidmore Fountain is a historic fountain in Portland, Oregon, United States. The fountain is a contributing property of and the namesake for the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District, which is also a National Historic Landmark. The founta ...

for Portland, Oregon (1888) * ''Diana'' (1888) * '' Major General Charles Devens'' (statue, 1892–1896) * In 1895, he was commissioned to create three bronze portals ( tympanum and pair of doors) for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

. The three tympanums and one door had been completed when he died. Herbert Adams completed the commission.Olin Levi Warner Biography. National Museum of American Art (CD-ROM) (New York and Washington, D.C.: MacMillan Digital in cooperation with th
National Museum of American Art, 1996).
/ref>

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Olin Levi 1844 births 1896 deaths People from Suffield, Connecticut American architectural sculptors 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Road incident deaths in New York City Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion Cycling road incident deaths