Paul Howard Manship American, 1885-1966

Overview

Paul Manship’s significance as one of America’s foremost sculptors of the early twentieth century lay in his ability to combine a modernist approach to form within the bounds of figurative art.  The variety of his subjects, the infinite beauty of his lines and the pure delight he found in the human figure all contribute to his outstanding reputation. 

Manship has been credited with revitalizing the classical tradition and others have countered that he freed the ties that bound American sculpture to realism.  It has been argued whether it was he or Saint-Gaudens who ushered in the “national style.”  The answer lies perhaps in extraordinary number of students and artist’s who were to be so greatly shaped by Manship’s style. 

 Manship stands as one of America’s most important American sculptors and certainly as the champion of the Deco style and the “modern aesthetic.” France experienced a golden era in the 19th century between architecture and sculpture and this occurred in America between 1910 and 1935 with Manship was a prominent part of it. Some of New York city’s most celebrated spots are Manship commissions such as the Prometheus Fountain at Rockefeller Center, the reliefs on the AT&T Building, the Rainey Memorial Gates at the Bronx Zoo and many more.

Museums and Public Collections

Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts

Akron Art Museum, Ohio

Amon Carter Museum, Texas

Art Institute of Chicago, Washington D.C.

Ball State Museum of Art, Indiana

Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Utah

Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio

Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

Colby College Museum of Art, Maine

Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

Currier Gallery of Art, New Hampshire

Dayton Art Institute, Ohio

Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California

Harvard University Art Museums, Massachusetts

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.

Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York

Huntington Sculpture Garden at Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina

Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana

Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California

Maryland State Archives

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul

Museum of the National Academy of Design, New York City

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.

Speed Art Museum, Kentucky

Huntington Library, California

Walker Art Center, Minnesota

Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

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