John F. Flanagan (also cited John Flannigan in early records; April 4, 1865–March 28, 1952)
["FLANAGAN, John."]
''Benezit Dictionary of Artists''. Oxford Art Online
Oxford Art Online is an Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press ...
. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 November 2014. was a
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 ...
who was widely known for his statuary and
plaquette
A plaquette (; "small plaque") is a small low relief sculpture in bronze or other materials. These were popular in the Italian Renaissance and later. They may be commemorative, but especially in the Renaissance and Mannerist periods were often ...
s but recognized foremost for his designs of coinage and commemorative medals. Among his best known designs are the obverse (front) and reverse of the United States
quarter dollar featuring the profile of
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, a coin that has been in continuous circulation with some modifications since 1932.
Washington quarter
Flanagan designed the
Washington U.S. quarter dollar coin, which was issued in 1932. Flanagan's initials can be found at the base of Washington's neck. He designed both sides of the quarter, adapting the obverse profile of the United States's first president from a bust of Washington initially produced by French neoclassical sculptor
Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1786. His original design for the quarter continued through 1998, after which the new "
State Quarter" series resulted in the modification of Flanagan's portrait of Washington and the removal altogether of the reverse design. In 2021, after the "America the Beautiful" coin series ended, Flanagan's design for the obverse of the quarter returned for one year, with the reverse changed to Benjamin Sowards' engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware.
Medallic work
Flanagan was a prolific medallic artist. Among his more important works, he designed the official medal of the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. He later sculpted the Verdun Medal, a gift of the United States to France commemorating the World War I
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...
. The inscription on it reads, '
They Shall Not Pass', and the medal is found in the Lafayette Database of American Art in French National collections. Flanagan also created the first issue of the influential
Circle of Friends of the Medallion series, 1909's ''
Hudson-Fulton Celebration'', and contributed to the successor
Society of Medalists series with his ''Aphrodite-Swift Runners'' medal of 1932.
Other work
From 1885 to 1890, Flanagan was a studio assistant to
Augustus St. Gaudens and worked on several large projects. A bronze portrait bust of St. Gaudens by Flanagan of 1924 exists in several copies, in the
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 ...
,
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
,
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and elsewhere.
[''American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A catalogue'', pp. Volume 2, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)]
google books
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In 1911, he was elected into 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 ...
as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1928.
Gallery
Image: Portrait of Phoebe Apperson Hearst by John Flanagan.jpg, Portrait medal of Phoebe Apperson Hearst by John Flanagan, 1890.
Image:LoC-Rotunda-Clock.jpeg, The Rotunda Clock (1896), by John Flanagan. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
Image:LoC-Rotunda-Clock-detail-Father-Time.jpeg, Detail of a winged Father Time in the Rotunda Clock.
Image: Portrait of Daniel Chester French by John Flanagan, 1919.jpg, Profile of fellow American sculptor 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 ...
by Flanagan, 1919.
Image:Verdun Medal by John Flanagan.jpg, Verdun Medal by Flanagan, c. 1920.
Image:Gardner medal obverse.jpg, 1896 medal honoring former Connecticut governor Morgan G. Bulkeley
See also
* List of Saltus Award winners
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, John
1865 births
1952 deaths
American currency designers
Artists from Newark, New Jersey
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American male artists
19th-century American sculptors
19th-century American male artists
American male sculptors
National Sculpture Society members
Sculptors from New Jersey
Coin designers
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery