Arts and Letters

In the death of Herbert Adams the Academy has lost one of its oldest and most respected members, old in number of years of life as well as membership in the Academy, to which he was elected in 1912. He was a charter member of the Institute. Yet years seemed to have rested lightly on his mind and spirit, for even a few weeks before his passing he still showed the same interest in matters pertaining to art and the same unflagging devotion to serve at all times in the interest of his profession. I know of no one in the field of sculpture who has given more freely of precious time and selfless interest in the furtherance of the aesthetic and ethical standards of American sculpture than Herbert Adams. The wish to do good and be of service to his fellow man remained uppermost all through his life and one could always count upon him whenever a service to his fellow artists was to be rendered.

His innate conscientiousness, downright integrity, wisdom of counsel and thoroughness in all things made him much sought after to serve on committees and art juries and to fill highly responsible positions in the many art organizations of which he was a member. He occupied the office of President of the National Sculpture Society three terms and was its Honorary President at the time of his death. He served two terms as President of the National Academy of Design, was President of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial Museum, Director of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of the Hispanic Society of America, of the American Academy in Rome, Elector and Art Director of the Hall of Fame, New York University, and had served as a member of the Art Commission of the City of New York and of the Federal Commission of Fine Arts. Honors came to him in full measure and these he carried with characteristic modesty. He was the recipient of the Elizabeth Watrous Gold Medal of the National Academy of Design, the Medal of Honor for Sculpture of the Architectural League of New York, the Gold Medal for Sculpture, Panama-Pacific International Exposition and of The Gold Medal of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Honorary degrees were conferred upon him by Tufts College and Yale University.

Though quietly unassuming and of genial nature, he possessed a determination which must have surprised those who did not know him well. He was slow in reaching a conclusion, but once he did, he rarely changed his mind. In intercourse with his confrères there was about him a certain reserve, amounting almost to shyness which, however, quickly melted away once he was drawn into conversation.

Profoundly devoted to his art, he believed firmly in the thorough knowledge and mastery of craftsmanship, that handmaiden of all creative art without the aid of which one cannot give full expression to what the mind conceives, however fanciful the imagination. He shared in the conviction that it is the lack of training in craftsmanship which accounts for so many failures in the field of so-called self-expression in art, that futile effort of the untutored to say something without possessing the power of speech.

Born in Concord, Vermont, on January 28, 1858, Herbert Adams received his early education in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and after graduation from the Massachusetts Normal Art School he went to Paris and studied under Mercié from 1885 to 1890. It was during this period that he became interested in the portraiture of beautiful women, in which field he won great distinction down to the later years of his life. Among these portraits, many of which he carved in marble and tinted in the manner of some of the Renaissance portraits, are the one of Miss Adeline Pond, who later became his wife, the one of Miss Julia Marlowe, of stage fame, the one called "Fannie" which he worked in a combination of marble, wood, and jewels and the one of "Linda," to name but a few, and a long list of idealized heads of beautiful womanhood, among them the lovely head of "Primavera."

His love for the use of pigments applied to sculpture continued all through his career and manifested itself not only in their application to portraiture and idealized heads, but also in some of his work of decorative, or idealistic character, of which there are many to his credit. He loved experimentation with the various media of his art, the results of which he always delighted in making known to his colleagues.

The range of his work was broad and varied, extending from the intimacy of the small bronze statuette, or lovely portrait in low relief, executed in beautifully tinted marble, to a statue for a war memorial, a sculptural motif to decorate the façade of a building, or the altar of a church. Especially noteworthy in the field of architectural sculpture are his bronze doors and marble lunette for Saint Bartholomew's Church in New York, his bronze doors for the American Academy of Arts and Letters building and for the Mariners Museum at Newport News, Virginia, in all of which he demonstrates his great ability in the handling of low relief. Outstanding among his monumental works are his statue of Chief Justice John Marshall for the Cleveland Court House, his William Cullen Bryant in New York, his William Ellery Channing in Boston and his Joseph Henry in Washington.

While the tradition of the Renaissance especially asserts itself throughout his work, there is no effort at imitation; his own good taste and spirit are the dominant and controlling factors. His own personality seems to be reflected in the quiet serenity and nobility of thought that permeates his work. He was ever a searcher for beauty and an honor to his profession.