Clara Lavinia Hill (September 1870 – July 16, 1935) was an American sculptor. Hill was born in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, but moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

early in her life. She was the daughter of John R. Hill, chief of the engraving division of the

Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the Federal Government of the United States, United States governm ...

, and was the sister of Louis A. Hill. A student of

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...

, she also had lessons at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

and the Académie Colarossi in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Her instructors in France included Denys Puech and Jean Injalbert. Hill ran her own art school for many years, first on

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...

and later on H Street, N.W. Beginning in 1922, she also taught alongside Catharine Carter Critcher, who also ran a school in Washington. Hill designed the decorations depicting

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

that were used as part of the decor on the American pavilion of the Exposition Universelle of 1900; they are currently unlocated, as are a number of her other known works, which were inventoried by the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in 1985. During her career she showed work at the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

, the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

, the Maryland Institute, and the District of Columbia chapter of the National League of American Pen Women. In 1908 she showed several pieces at the Bauer-Folsom Gallery in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

alongside paintings by Emil Carlsen. The following year she received the grand prize at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition; she also exhibited work at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in 1915. Hill was a charter member of the Arts Club of Washington, and was long associated with the Society of Washington Artists, with whom she exhibited from 1901 until 1932 and with whom she was serving as an officer at the time of her death. She was also a founder of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington, of which she served as president in the year of her death. Hill is buried in the family plot at

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth (Washington, D.C.), Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across ...

, where she has no marker of her own.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Clara 1870 births 1935 deaths 20th-century American sculptors Sculptors from Boston Artists from Washington, D.C. Académie Julian alumni Académie Colarossi alumni Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery 20th-century American women sculptors