Chesterwood

Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor.
His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln (1920)  in Washington, D.C.
After a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  French worked on his father’s farm. You can see that to him, family was very important when you visit the family farm which later became his summer house & studio.

President Obama spoke about Daniel Chester French during his remarks at the America’s Promise Alliance Education Event on March 1, 2010.
The reference to French came at the end of the President’s speech:
About a man named George Ellis, who lived about a hundred years ago. And George Ellis was a janitor. His job was to clean up after the artist Daniel Chester French. Some of you may have heard of French — he’s the one who carved the figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial.
So day after day, week after week, month after month, Ellis went about his job, barely uttering a word to Mr. French, other than say the occasional “hello” or “goodbye.” And then one day, just when French had nearly completed his masterpiece, Ellis spoke up. He said, “Mr. French, I have a question for you.” So the artist said, “What is it?” “Well, what I want to ask is how you knew all along that Mr. Lincoln was sitting inside that block of marble.”

This wasn’t a silly question. Because sometimes in this country and in our lives, we see blocks of marble and some people can see what’s inside and some people can’t. It was a question profound — it was a profound question about how we recognize the potential within each of us, and chisel away at what’s keeping it locked inside.

His most striking piece for me and many others, though it never sold and remains on view
At the studio on the property is his “Andromeda”

Princess Andromeda sacrificed herself to save her native city. Chained to a rock, she awaits the terrible sea-monster, unaware of the fact that Perseus on his winged horse is coming to her rescue. A stunning Art Nouveau piece.

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About Laurel

Laurel Thorndike is our "artist in residence" here at We Love Museums. "Lately I have been experimenting with a very illustrative style. Using images & feelings as a writer would use words to bring characters "to life" Suggesting a possible story or building from existing ones." Inspiring artists & art periods include Art Nouveau's Alphonse Mucha and Maxfield Parrish. Pre-Raphaelites such as Waterhouse, Holman Hunt, Leighton. Portrait painter's John Singer Sargent and Julio Romero de Torres. Symbolists such as Jean Delville and Carlos Schwabe. In 2001 she studied photography with nature photographer Patrick Pacheo Zephyr. She immediately fell in love with using the camera to 'paint with light'. Using natural light to create a picture full of emotion from something as ordinary as a reflection in a small pond or a lone tree on a hill. In 2014 she attended the 'Illustrator Master Class' at Amherst College, A one week intensive with the instruction of some of the finest illustrator's in the country! Her works have been shown at the juried Art On The Mountain show 2004 & 2005 Wilmington VT and the Northeastern Fine Arts Juried Exhibition at the Green Trees Gallery Northfield MA 2005. As well as at various galleries and art fairs throughout New England. Her work can be viewed and purchased at: www.LaurelThorndike.com.

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