Jo Davidson
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Jo Davidson (March 30, 1883 – January 2, 1952) was an American
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
. Although he specialized in realistic, intense
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...
busts, Davidson did not require his subjects to formally pose for him; rather, he observed and spoke with them. He worked primarily with
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
, while the final products were typically cast in terra-cotta or
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
, or carved from
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
.


Background

Davidson was born 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 ...
, where he was educated before going to work in the atelier of American sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil. He subsequently moved to Paris in 1907 to study
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.


Career


Art

After returning to the United States, he was befriended by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who purchased some of his work. In 1911 Davidson secured his first solo gallery shows. In 1927 he was one of a dozen sculptors invited by the oilman E. W. Marland to compete for a commission for a '' Pioneer Woman'' statue in Ponca City. Each was paid a commission to produce a small model, and the dozen works were exhibited in major cities in the US. Davidson did not win the commission. In 1934 Davidson won the National Academy of Design's Maynard Prize. In 1944, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. In 1947 the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
hosted a
retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...
featuring nearly 200 of his works. In the summer of 1949, Davidson was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
. Among Davidson's commissions are a design for a United States War Industries
badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fir ...
, a collection of pieces for the
Government of France The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...
to commemorate the first victory of the '' Troupes de Marine,'' and bronze busts of the leaders of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Allies. His portraits of world leaders and celebrated figures gained him international acclaim. He created statues of oilman and future governor E. W. Marland and his two adoptive grown children.


Politics

Davidson served as chairman of the Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions (ICCASP), a leftist-liberal group that supported the policies of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and his re-election. In 1946 this group merged with the National Citizens Political Action Committee (NCPAC) to become the Progressive Citizens of America (PCA); Davidson became co-chairman (the other chairman being Dr. Frank Kingdon). PCA struggled during tensions of the Cold War, with its members under suspicion by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for leftist leanings. It worked for racial equality, economic justice and civil liberties. Important segments of the PCA became the base for Henry A. Wallace's candidacy for U.S. President in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket.


Commissions

*
Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the la ...
* Julio Álvarez del Vayo * James Barrie * Nicholas Murray Butler *
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
* Madame Chiang Kai-shek * Joseph Conrad *
Émile Coué Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie (; 26 February 1857 – 2 July 1926) was a French psychologist, pharmacy, pharmacist, and hypnotist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and Self-help, self-improvement based on optimism, optimistic ...
(who was also a sculptor in his spare time) * Clarence Darrow * Charles G. Dawes - bust, part of the United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection *
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
*
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
* Dwight D. Eisenhower *Marshal
Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general, Marshal of France and a member of the Académie Française and French Academy of Sciences, Académie des Sciences. He distinguished himself as Supreme Allied Commander ...
*
Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
* André Gide *
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...
* W. Averell Harriman * Frank Harris * Dolores Ibárruri (''La Pasionaria'') * Robinson Jeffers *
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
* Otto Kahn * Helen Keller *
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
* Robert M. La Follette,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
contribution to National Statuary Hall,
United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...
* D. H. Lawrence * Edward Drummond Libbey, founder of the Libbey Glass Company and the Toledo Museum of Art in
Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...
* Henry Luce * John Marin * E. W. Marland * Lydie Marland and her brother George Roberts Marland * Lowell Mellett * Andrew Mellon * Constancia de la Mora *General John J. Pershing *
John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...
* Will Rogers (posthumous) - the original statue donated to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital in Saranac Lake, New York * Will Rogers (posthumous) - bronze,
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
contribution to National Statuary Hall,
United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...
, erected in 1939 *
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
installed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park * Ida Rubinstein * Carl Sandburg * E. W. Scripps *
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
*
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
* Lincoln Steffens * Gertrude Stein *
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
* Marshal TitoPrijem američkog vajara Džo Dejvidsona i poziranje
foto.mij.rs * Getúlio Vargas *
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
* Henry A. Wallace - bust, part of the United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection * Walt Whitman (posthumous) - full-body bronze statue at the Walt Whitman Bridge in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and in Bear Mountain State Park, New York. * Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney * ''Walt Whitman'' statue * Evan Williams (Opera tenor) *
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
* Israel Zangwill *
Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; ; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produced one of Ameri ...


Collections

Some of Davidson's work is in the National Gallery of Art. He also designed a statue of Henry D. Thoreau, the author of the 1854 book ''
Walden ''Walden'' (; first published as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is an 1854 book by American transcendentalism, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. T ...
''. The statue is located at Walden Pond State Reservation in
Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...
. In 2006, The
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
's National Portrait Gallery opened a permanent exhibition, "Jo Davidson: Biographer in Bronze", showcasing fourteen Davidson works in terracotta and bronze, including portraits of Gertrude Stein and Lincoln Steffens.


References

Sources * Armstrong, Craven et al., ''220 Years of American Sculpture,'' Whitney Museum of Art & David R. Goodine, Publisher, NY 1976 * ''Compilation of Works of Art and Other Objects in the United States Capitol'', Prepared by the Architect of the Capitol under the Direction of the Joint Committee on the Library, United States Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 1965 * Connor, Janis and Joel Rosenkranz, photographs by David Finn, ''Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works, 1893 - 1939'', University of Texas Press, Austin TX 1989 * Craven, Wayne, ''Sculpture in America: From the Colonial Period to the Present'', Thomas Y, Crowell Company, NY 1968 * Davidson, Jo, ''Between Sittings: an informal autobiography'', The Dial Press, NY 1951 *
Homepage of the National Portrait Gallery
Washington, DC: Permanent Exhibitions. {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Jo 1883 births 1952 deaths New York (state) Democrats American people of Russian-Jewish descent American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Sculptors from New York City 20th-century American sculptors American male sculptors National Sculpture Society members Sculptors from New York (state) 20th-century American male artists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters