Frederick William MacMonnies

Frederick William MacMonnies (1863-1937) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school and one of the most successful expatriate artists of his generation. He apprenticed under Augustus Saint-Gaudens at age 17, then studied in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts. He was the first American sculptor to win a gold medal at the Paris Salon.

MacMonnies' grand Columbian Fountain for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago made him famous. His Bacchante and Infant Faun caused a public controversy over its nudity, eventually prompting him to shift toward less provocative subjects. Our collection includes 3 works at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.