Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Object Details
- Luce Center Label
- Hiram Powers often thought about giving up portrait busts to concentrate solely on his ideal sculptures. Some opportunities were too tempting to resist, however, as with the portrait of the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Powers modeled the sculpture out of respect for the poet and as a valuable addition to his busts of notable people; the sitter’s brother and sister as well as many admirers of his poetry commissioned several replicas. This portrait is an example of Powers’s later work during the 1860s, when he modeled his busts after the classical Greek herm design, with a squared-off, tapering base.
- Luce Object Quote
- “Visitors to my studio have found a Homeric character in this bust, and some think it the best I have ever done.” Hiram Powers, 1870, in Richard P. Wunder, Hiram Powers, 1989-91
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson
- Data Source
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Date
- modeled 1869
- Object number
- 1968.155.98
- Artist
- Hiram Powers, born Woodstock, VT 1805-died Florence, Italy 1873
- Sitter
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- plaster
- Dimensions
- 18 3/4 x 11 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (47.5 x 29.5 x 19.2 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 17B
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor
- Topic
- Study\sculpture model
- Occupation\writer\poet
- Portrait male\bust
- Portrait male\nude
- Record ID
- saam_1968.155.98
