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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Macneil, Hermon Atkins

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22007651911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17 — Macneil, Hermon Atkins

MACNEIL, HERMON ATKINS (1866–  ), American sculptor, was born at Chelsea, Massachusetts. He was an instructor in industrial art at Cornell University in 1886–1889, and was then a pupil of Henri M. Chapu and Falguière in Paris. Returning to America, he aided Philip Martiny in the preparation of sketch models for the Columbian exposition, and in 1896 he won the Rinehart scholarship, passing four years (1896–1900) in Rome. In 1906 he became a National Academician. His first important work was “The Moqui Runner,” which was followed by “A Primitive Chant,” and “The Sun Vow,” all figures of the North-American Indian. A “Fountain of Liberty,” for the St Louis exposition, and other Indian themes came later; his “Agnese” and his “Beatrice,” two fine busts of women, also deserve mention. His principal work is the sculpture for a large memorial arch, at Columbus, Ohio, in honour of President McKinley. In 1909 he won in competition a commission for a large soldiers’ and sailors’ monument in Albany, New York. His wife, Carol Brooks MacNeil, also a sculptor of distinction, was a pupil of F. W. MacMonnies.