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Sculptural Works Pony
Express Website Owner: Jefferson Fairbanks, PhD, grandson of the sculptor Comments are welcome Related Links: Books on the Sculptor Avard Fairbanks by Eugene F. Fairbanks: "A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone" "A Sculpture Garden of Fantasy" This web site is non-commercial in nature, and was not created for the purposes of selling art. Viewers interested in purchasing art may visit FairbanksArt.com for information regarding the sale of art. links: LDSMusician.com, LDSMusicNetwork.com, LDSMusicWorld.com, LDSMusic.org, BuyLDSMusic.com, |
Avard Fairbanks - A Short Biography of the Sculptor
Avard followed his father to the Metopolitan Art Museum in New York City. His work was recognized in a New York Herald article entitled "Young Michaelangelo of this modern day in knickerbockers working at the Metropolitan Museum". Avard spent his time modeling animals at the Bronx Aoological Gardens. In 1910 and 1911 he received scholarships to study at the Art Students League. He soon came to know many notable sculptors and received instruction from them. At the age of fourteen, Avard's sculpture was displayed in the National Academy of Design. In 1913 Avard went to Paris and studied at the Ecole Nationale
des Beaux Artes, the Ecole de la Grande Chaumiere, the Academy Colarossi,
and the Ecole Moderne. His works were exhibited at the Grand Salon.
The outbreak of World War I led Avard to return home to Salt Lake
City, where he continued his high school education. Avard and his brother J. Leo were commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to erect four sculpture friezes for the temple in Hawaii. Avard sent for his sweetheart while in Hawaii, and they were married in Honolulu. They finished there work on the temple in 1918 and returned home. Avard began studying at the University of Utah. Following World War I, Avard decided to commemorate the return of the soldiers by erect monuments. He made "The Idaho Doughboy" which was place in two cities in the state. In 1920, Avard was given an appointment as assistant professor at the University of Oregon. While in Oregon, Avard created several works, including "The Awakening of Aphrodite" placed in the Washburn Gardens in Eugene, "The Holy Sacrament" placed at St. Mary's Cathedral in Eugene, World War I memorials placed at Jefferson High School in Portland and at Oregon State University in Corvalis, and bronze monuments marking the Old Oregon Trail placed in Baker and Seaside. In 1924 Avard took a leave of absence to study at Yale University, which awarded him a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Then he returned to Oregon to continue as a professor until he was awarded a fellowship by the Guggenheim Foundation. With this he went to Europe. While in Europe he created "La Primavera", "Pioneer Mother Memorial", and "Motherhood". In 1928 Avard returned to the United States and taught at the Seattle Institute of Art. He also studied at the University of Washington and received a Masters of Fine Art degree the following year. While there, Avard erected "The Ninetyfirst Division Monument" at Fort Lewis.
Avard designed the original radiator ornament for the Dodge Motor Company - a ram. He also created a winged mermaid for the Plymouth in 1930 and a griffin for the Hudson automobiles in 1933. In 1947 Avard was appointed dean of the newly created the College
of Fine Arts at the University
of Utah. He created three heroic statues to be placed in Statuary
Hall in the Capitol Building in Washington DC - Marcus
Whitman, pioneer physician of the Pacific Northwest, Esther
Morris, women's right advocate of Wyoming, and John
Burke, governor of North Dakota, Supreme Court Justice, and
US Treasurer. Avard also sculpted a monument of Daniel C. Jackling,
who developed the Utah Copper Company. This was placed in the Utah
State Capitol. Avard also began work on other monuments of Abraham Lincoln. He erected a heroic bronze in New Salem Village, Illinois, another at Lincoln Square in Chicago entitled "The Great Chicago Lincoln", and another called "Lincoln the Friendly Neighbor" in Berwyn, Illinois. At Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, Avard made bronze panels commemorating the Lincoln-Douglas debates. And finally, Avard placed four busts of Lincoln in the Ford Theater Museum - the youth, the railsplitter, the lawyer, and the president.
For the Utah Centennial, Dr. Fairbanks contructed a Pony
Express which was displayed in the parade. This sculpture depicts
a young rider starting on a fresh horse in front of an old man with
the worn out horse. It is one of the few tributes to the men who
guarded the stations of the Pony Express, many of whom lost their
lives. The Pony Express for the Utah Centennial was a temporary
sculpture, made of plaster and displayed in many parades throughout
Utah until the piece eventually deteriorated. Avard's sons have
recreated
this great work, and it was place at This is the Place State Park
in Salt Lake City. Years later, William Harrah Avard created many medals of distinction. He also made many bronze reliefs recognizing notable physicians. In addition to his dedication to his work, Avard devoted time to his family which consisted of eight sons and two daughters. He taught them modeling and casting. They often helped him in his studio. Avard also did many demonstration lectures for high schools, professional clubs, medical societies, art guilds, church groups and college faculty meetings. Avard Fairbanks was the recipient of many awards, including a medal of the Knights of Thermopylae by King Pual of Greece, an honorary degree of doctor of fine arts from Lincoln College, the Lincoln Diploma of Honor from Lincoln Memorial University, the Lincoln Medal of the Sesquicentennial Commission of the Congress of the United States, and the Herbert Adams Memorial Medal for distinguished service to American sculpture. His memberships included the Architectrual League of New York, the International Institute of Arts and Letters, the Society of Oregon Artists, the Circolo Delgi Artisti di Firenzi, the Della Contrada Della Torre da Siena, Italy, and a fellow of the National Sculpture Society.
This biography was adapted from sections in "A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone" by Eugene F. Fairbanks. This book is available at Amazon.com. |
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was born on March 2, 1897
in Provo Utah. His father, John B. Fairbanks was an accomplshed
artist, having painted many of the murals in Latter-day Saint temples.
At the early age of twelve, Avard sculpted a clay rabbit and entered
it into a contest at a state fair. The rabbit won first prize, but
when the judge learned that a boy had sculpted the rabbit, he refused
to award the prize. This experience made Avard all the more determined
to become an artist.
