Edward Clark Potter (November 26, 1857 – June 21, 1923) was an American sculptor best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His most famous works are the marble lions, nicknamed ''Patience'' and ''Fortitude'', in front of the

New York Public Library Main Branch The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (commonly known as the Main Branch, the 42nd Street Library, or just the New York Public Library) is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system in the Midtown Manhattan, Midtown neighborhood ...

Early years

Born in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, he grew up in

Enfield, Massachusetts Enfield was a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was lost as a result of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. History Incorporated in 1816 from portions of Greenwich and Belchertown. It was named in honor of ...

, where he lived with his mother Mary and sister Clara. There he went to local schools. At 17, due to his mother's wish that he become a minister, he entered

Williston Seminary Williston Northampton School (simply referred to as Williston) is a private, co-educational, day and boarding college-preparatory school in Easthampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1841. History Williston Seminary wa ...

Easthampton, Massachusetts Easthampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The city is in the Pioneer Valley, near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst. The population was 16,211 at the 2020 census. History E ...

, for four years. He entered

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

, in the class of 1882. He only attended for three semesters, but later was granted an honorary Master's degree. He studied drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston with

Frederic Crowninshield Frederic Crowninshield (1845–1918) was an American artist and author. Life Crowninshield was born in Boston on November 27, 1845, into the Crowninshield family. His father was Edward Augustus Crowninshield (1817–1859) and mother was Caroline ...

and Otto Grundmann. There he also did some modelling with the sculptor Truman H. Bartlett.

Career

In 1883 he became an assistant to

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

and concentrated on animal studies and working as a manager and salesman in the quarries. From 1887 to 1889 he studied sculpture 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 ...

in Paris with

Antonin Mercié Marius Jean Antonin Mercié (October 30, 1845 in Toulouse – December 12, 1916 in Paris), was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Medalist, medallist and Painting, painter. Biography Mercié entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, ...

and

Emmanuel Frémiet Emmanuel Frémiet (6 December 182410 September 1910) was a French sculptor. He is famous for his 1874 sculpture of Joan of Arc in Paris (and its "sister" statues in Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon) and the monument to Ferdinand de Lesseps in S ...

, becoming an accomplished ''

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

'' (animal sculptor). During his years there, he exhibited several pieces at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

: small groups of rabbits, a bust of a black man, a sketch from an American Indian group, and a sleeping faun with a rabbit. For the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago he collaborated with his teacher and friend

on several of the important sculptures of the exposition. Unfortunately these statues, like most of the architecture of the fair, were made of ''staff'', a temporary material of

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

, cement, and

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

fibers, first used in buildings of the

Paris exhibition Paris Exposition or Paris Exhibition can refer to * French Industrial Exposition of 1844 * Exposition des produits de l'industrie française, held intermittently from 1798 to 1849 * Exposition Universelle (1855), the Paris Exposition of 1855 * Expos ...

in 1878. He was elected to the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding member ...

in 1893, and joined 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 1894. This later merged with 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, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

to which he was elected in 1906. Potter won a gold medal at the

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

in St. Louis in 1904. His most famous work is the pair of pink

Tennessee marble Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found only in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, the stone has been use ...

lions in front of the

, carved by the

Piccirilli brothers The Piccirilli Brothers were an Italian family of renowned marble carvers and sculptors who carved many of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1920) in the ...

. Potter was recommended for this commission by

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 ...

. The lions were originally nicknamed "Leo Astor" and "Leo Lenox", for the two private libraries that formed the collection's core, but mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Yo ...

renamed them for qualities New Yorkers were showing in weathering the Great Depression—''Patience'' (on the left or south) and ''Fortitude'' (on the right or north)—and those names have stuck. A resident of

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, after 1902, he sculpted the memorial to

Raynal Bolling Raynal Cawthorne BollingThe given name "Raynal" is pronounced as in "canal." (September 1, 1877 – March 26, 1918) was the first high-ranking officer of the United States Army to be killed in combat in World War I. A corporate lawyer by vocation ...

there in 1922. The

Cos Cob Cos Cob is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It is located on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County. It had a population of 6,873 at the 2020 census. Cos Cob is lo ...

section of Greenwich is considered one of the birthplaces of

American Impressionism American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose ...

. Potter was a founder and first president of the Greenwich Society of Artists, founded in 1912. He died at his summer home in

Collaborations with Daniel Chester French

World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893

(These were temporary sculptures, all were destroyed.) * Grand Court * ''The Republic'' (replicated as Statue of ''The Republic'') * ''Statue of Industry'' * ''Statue of Plenty'' * ''Statue of The Teamster'' * ''Quadriga'' (horse-drawn chariot) * Quadriga outriders

Equestrian statues

* Equestrian statue of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant,

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1893–98) * Equestrian statue of George Washington, Place d'Iéna, Paris, France (1900) * Equestrian statue of George Washington, Washington Park, Chicago, Illinois (1900–04). This is a replica of the statue in Paris. *

Equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

of Major General Joseph Hooker, Massachusetts Statehouse, Boston, Massachusetts (1903) * ''Progress of the State'' quadriga,

Minnesota State Capitol The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital (political), capital city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the offic ...

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of Early skyscrapers, skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minneso ...

, architect, St. Paul, Minnesota (1905–1907) * Equestrian statue of Charles Devens, Worcester, Massachusetts (1906) * Equestrian statue of a bugler, "Soldier's Monument" Brookline, MA, (1915)

Gallery

File:Worlds Columbian Exposition Statue of the Republic, Chicago, United States, 1893. (2785068208).jpg,

, Chicago (1893). Potter's Quadriga (horse-drawn chariot) is atop the pavilion behind '' The Republic'' File:EB1911 Plate VI. v24, pg.507, Fig 2.jpg, ''Indian Corn''
(Woman by

) Equestrian statue of George Washington in Paris, 2009-06 (cropped).jpg, Equestrian statue of George Washington, Place d'Iéna, Paris, France (1900) File:1903 Hooker statue StateHouse Boston.png, Dedication of the '' General Joseph Hooker'' statue, Massachusetts Statehouse, Boston, MA (1903) File:Progress of the State.jpg, ''Progress of the State'' Quadriga, Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul, Minnesota (1905–1907)

Selected works

* ''Sleeping Faun'',

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York City (1887–89

* Bust of William A. Wheeler, Vice President William A. Wheeler, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC (1890–1892

* Austin Blair, Governor Austin Blair,

Michigan State Capitol The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the List of U.S. state capitals, state capital of Lansing, Michigan, Lansing which lies in In ...

, Lansing, Michigan (1895–1898). *

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

, Rotunda Reading Room,

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, Washington, DC (1897). One of 16 bronze statues set around the third-floor balustrade. *

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

, Dewey Triumphal Arch, Madison Square, New York City (1899, destroyed). * Equestrian Statue of Major General Henry W. Slocum,

Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot & at Knoxlyn Ridge ...

, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1902

* Equestrian Statue of Charles Devens, Major General Charles Devens, Worcester County Courthouse, Worcester, Massachusetts (1905–06

* ''Indian Religion'' (Buddha),

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, Brooklyn, New York (1907–1909

* ''Indian Philosophy'' (Sankara),

, Brooklyn, New York (1907–1909

* ''Sighting the Enemy'' ( George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument), Monroe, Michigan (1908–1910). * Equestrian Statue of Major General George B. McClellan, Smith Memorial Arch, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1909–1911

* Lions,

, New York City (1910–11). * Equestrian Statue of Philip Kearny, Major General Philip Kearny,

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

, Arlington, Virginia (1912–1914). * Bust of

Sidney Lanier Sidney Clopton Lanier (February 3, 1842 – September 7, 1881) was an American musician, poet and author. He served in the Confederate States Army as a private, worked on a blockade-running ship for which he was imprisoned (resulting in his catch ...

on the Sidney Lanier Monument,

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban forest and park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as ...

, Atlanta, Georgia (1914). * ''The Bugler'' (Brookline Civil War Monument), Brookline, Massachusetts (1915

* Equestrian Statue of John A. McClernand, Major General John A. McClernand, Vicksburg, Mississippi (1919

* Raynal Bolling, Raynal Bolling Memorial, Greenwich, Connecticut (1922). File:Austin Blair statue 1.jpg, Governor Austin Blair,

, Lansing, Michigan (1895–1898). File:Equestrian statue of General H. W. Slocum to be unveiled at Gettysburg this week LOC 4230624729.jpg, General H. W. Slocum, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (1920) File:CusterStatue1910.png, George Armstrong Custer Equestrian Monument, Monroe, Michigan (1908–1910). File:Kearny Tomb.JPG, Major General Philip Kearny,

, Arlington, Virginia (1912–1914). File:Bolling2233.jpg, Raynal Bolling, Raynal Bolling Memorial, Greenwich, Connecticut (1922).

References

External links

Stone Spirit

National Sculpture Society

School of the Museum of Fine Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Edward Clark 1857 births 1923 deaths People from New London, Connecticut Académie Julian alumni Williston Northampton School alumni Artists from Greenwich, Connecticut Amherst College alumni 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American sculptors American male sculptors People from Enfield, Massachusetts Sculptors from Connecticut 19th-century American male artists