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Sculptors throughout the ages have sought to produce works of art that are timeless, durable, and as permanent as possible. There are many different common forms of sculpture, including free-standing, kinetic (involving physical motion), site-specific and statue. Free-standing sculpture is surrounded by space on all sides and is meant to be viewed from any angle. Kinetic sculptures are most commonly designed with moving water, in the form of fountains. Statues are known as a representational sculpture depicting an entity, usually a person, event, animal or object as a bust or portrait. Portrait sculpting has been the most popular traditional form of sculpting that has carried with it the timelessness of each historical era and the durability that all art strives to be. James Earl Fraser was an American sculptor who was widely regarded as the foremost portrait and American Western sculptor of his generation.
James Earl Fraser (November 4, 1876 - October 11, 1953) was born in Winona, Minnesota to a railroad engineer who was helping expand the American West. James was exposed at an early age to the frontier life and Native Americans, who were being pushed even further west or confined to reservations. Fraser developed an affinity for sculpting at an early age by carving figures from pieces of limestone he found in a local stone quarry. Fraser pursued his passion by attending classes and becoming an assistant to sculptor Richard Bock at the Art Institute of Chicago at the age of 14. He started school just in time to participate in much of the artistic work associated with the World’s Columbian Exposition, which involved a massive amount of architectural sculptures.
In 1895, Fraser gained admission to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he worked under well-known French sculptor Alexandre Falguière. It was there that Fraser came to the attention of Augustus Saint Gaudens when Fraser won a competition Gaudens was judging. Fraser worked with Gaudens for four years, in which he assisted on the General Sherman Monument, erected at the Fifth Avenue entrance of Central Park. Fraser left Gaudens in 1902 to set up his own studio in New York, which he maintained for over half a century. Shortly after moving to New York, Fraser began teaching at the Art Students League. In 1913, Fraser married a former student of his, Laura Gardin, who remained his partner for life and also became a highly respected sculptor herself.
Throughout his professional career, James Earl Fraser created timeless and well-known sculptures. Early in his career, he designed the “Buffalo” nickel, which went into circulation in 1913. Shortly after, in 1918, he designed the Victory Medal to commemorate the end of World War I. He was also the designer for the Navy Cross. But it was for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915 that Fraser produced his most recognized work, the End of Trail. It is currently being displayed at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. After the First World War, Fraser turned to larger works, public monuments and architectural sculpture. Some of his more recognizable larger works are the Benjamin Franklin Memorial in Philadelphia, PA, William Howard Taft Monument, Arlington National Cemetery and the Recorder of the Archive Pediment of National Archives and Records Administration Building in Washington D.C.
James Earl Fraser was an American sculptor who was widely regarded as the foremost portrait and American Western sculptor of his generation. He is most known for his End Of The Trail sculpture that embodies the passion and pain of the Native American forced migration to the West. Wholesales Sculptures offers affordable bronze sculptures of Fraser’s End Of The Trail for anyone who appreciates his timeless style. Visit www.wholesalesculptures.com for the heroic End Of The Trail sculpture by the famous James Earl Fraser. |
