Edmond Thomas Quinn
{{short description|American sculptor and painter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Edmond Thomas Quinn
| image = Edmond T. Quinn by Albert Sterner 1915 NYPL.jpg
| caption = Edmond T. Quinn (1915) 1915 by Albert Sterner
| birth_name = Edmond Thomas Quinn
| birth_date = {{birth date|1868|12|20}}
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| death_date = {{death date and age|1929|9|9|1868|12|20}}
| death_place = New York, New York
| resting_place = Island Cemetery, Newport, Rhode Island
| occupation = {{hlist|Painter|Sculptor}}
| years_active = 1891–1929
| relatives = Emily Bradley Quinn (wife)
}}
Edmond Thomas Quinn (December 20, 1868 – September 9, 1929) was an American sculptor active from the Gilded Age to the Jazz Age, with work in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Ireland. Among his sitters were Playwright Eugene O'Neill, Painter Leon Kroll, and architect Cass Gilbert. Among his outdoor sculptures visible today are Edwin Booth as Hamlet in Gramercy Park, composer Victor Herbert near the Naumburg Bandshell on the Central Park Mall, and baseball pioneer Harry Wright.
Education
Quinn was born December 20, 1868, in Philadelphia, to John and Rosina McLaughlin Quinn. He studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins. Following Eakins's February 1886 forced-resignation from PAFA, Quinn followed him to the Art Students League of Philadelphia, and later became that short-lived school's curator.Margaret McHenry, Thomas Eakins Who Painted (Oreland, PA: by the author, 1946), p. 121. In Paris he trained for a time as a sculptor in the studio of Jean Antoine Injalbert.
Career
He exhibited regularly at the National Academy of Design, showing paintings in 1891, 1893, 1905, 1906 and 1907. He first showed his sculpture there in 1908, and annually for many years, usually portrait busts. He won a silver medal for his bronze sculpture of model Audrey Munson at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, 1915.American Art Annual, 14 (1918): "Who's Who in Art": s.v. "Quinn, Edmond T., 135 De Kalb Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y."".{{cite news |title=Venus Surpassed in Beauty of Form |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8dOAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA8-PA21 |accessdate=3 February 2019 |publisher=The Illustrated Milliner |date=1 May 1915}} He also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (paintings: 1891, 1894, 1897; sculptures: 1899, 1901, 1905–06, 1908–10, 1914–16, 1921, 1923, 1925–26, 1928, posthumously 1930), and the Art Institute of Chicago.
File:Edmund Quinn Fencing MET DP228731.jpgHe was elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1920,[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/04/16/112653653.pdf "14 Elected to National Academy"] The New York Times (April 16, 1920) and was a member of the National Sculpture Society,National Sculpture Society, ‘’Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue’’, National Sculpture Society, NY 1923 pp. 202-203 the Century Association, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Players Club, for whom he executed his statue of Booth.
Quinn was recognized as being a fine portraitist whose work "shows taste and conscience." His portrait busts include Franklin Hooper, Sylvester Malone, Edwin Markham, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Padraic Colum and Eugene O'Neill.Taft, Lorado, ‘’The History of American Sculpture’’, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1925 p 551. His half-length, oil-on-canvas portrait of Attilio Piccirilli, the sculptor whose studio executed many works of American Beaux-Arts masters, is in the National Academy of Design,It is illustrated in Dearinger 2004:455 as are his painted portraits of Furio Piccirilli and Sherry E. Fry.{{cite book|author1=David Bernard Dearinger|author2=National Academy of Design (U.S.)|title=Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design: 1826-1925|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHH45aYubp4C&pg=PR20|year=2004|publisher=Hudson Hills|isbn=978-1-55595-029-3}} The National Portrait Gallery has a large number of his portrait busts. __NOTOC__
Death
In May 1929, Quinn tried to kill himself by drinking poison.[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0815FE355A127A93C0A8178ED85F4D8285F9&scp=2&sq=edmond+thomas+quinn&st=p "Quinn, Sculptor, Tries to End Life; Noted Artist Drinks Poison in His Home and Is Taken to Hospital. Motive Mystifies Family; His Bust of Holmes Unveiled in the Hall of Fame Last Week-- Has Work in Museum"] The New York Times (May 12, 1929) He was found drowned off Governors Island, New York City in September 1929, a suicide.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/09/13/archives/et-quinn-sculptor-is-found-drowned-noted-artist-in-bronze-had-been.html|newspaper=The New York Times|page=1|title=Last May. HIS FAMILY IS SILENT But Friend Says His Body Was Taken From Bay Off Governors Island on Monday. Drowning Is Rumored. Many Works in Museums Here. E.T. QUINN, SCULPTOR, IS FOUND DROWNED|location=New York City|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 13, 1929|access-date=June 26, 2023|archive-date=June 26, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230626193728/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/09/13/archives/et-quinn-sculptor-is-found-drowned-noted-artist-in-bronze-had-been.html}}[https://www.nytimes.com/1929/09/14/archives/body-of-et-quinn-identified-by-friend-sculptor-who-ended-his-life.html?sq=edmond+thomas+quinn&scp=8&st=p "Body of E.T. Quinn Identified by Friend; Sculptor Who Ended His Life in Bay Will Be Buried Today at Newport"] The New York Times (September 14, 1929)
Quinn's papers are at Yale University.[http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/fedora/get/beinecke:quinne/PDF Edmond T. Quinn Papers]{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Selected works
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Subject !! Place !! Location | |||
| 1897 | Baseball pioneer Harry Wright | West Laurel Hill Cemetery | Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania |
| 1905 | Mayor William Howard | William Howard Memorial Chapel | Williamsport, Pennsylvania |
| 1908 | Author Edgar Allan Poe (bust) | Poe Cottage | The Bronx, New York |
| 1908 | Author Edgar Allan Poe (plaster model) | Poe Museum | Richmond, Virginia |
| 1908 | Revolutionary War Memorial (bas relief) | Kings Mountain National Military Park | Blacksburg, South Carolina |
| 1910 | Zoroaster | Brooklyn Museum (east facade) | Brooklyn, New York |
| 1911 | Interior Sculptures | Pittsburgh Athletic Association Building | Pittsburgh, Pennsylanvia |
| 1912 | Figure of a Nymph | Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, New York |
| 1912 | Attorney J. Edward Swanstrom (relief) | Columbus Park (removed) | Brooklyn, New York |
| 1915 | General Winfield S. Featherston (bust) | Vicksburg National Military Park (outside) | Warren County, Mississippi |
| 1917 | General John C. Pemberton | Pemberton Circle | Vicksburg, Mississippi |
| 1918 | Actor Edwin Booth | Gramercy Park | New York, New York |
| 1920 | Professor Franklin W. Hooper (bust) | Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, New York |
| 1921 | Victory, Great War Memorial | Faneuil Park | New Rochelle, New York |
| 1922 | Playwright Eugene O'Neill (bust) | National Portrait Gallery | Washington, D.C. |
| 1924 | Painter Leon Kroll (bust) | Whitney Museum of American Art | New York, New York |
| 1925 | Poet Padraic Colum (bust) | Hugh Lane Gallery | Dublin, Ireland |
| c1925 | Poet and Novelist James Stephens (bust) | National Gallery of Ireland | Dublin, Ireland |
| 1926 | Actor Edwin Booth (bust) | Hall of Fame for Great Americans | The Bronx, New York |
| 1926 | Chancellor James Kent (bust) | Hall of Fame for Great Americans | The Bronx, New York |
| 1926 | Architect Cass Gilbert | Minnesota State Capitol | St. Paul, Minnesota |
| 1927 | Composer-Conductor Victor Herbert (bust) | Central Park Mall | New York, New York |
| 1927 | Fire Chief William Francis Kenny (bas relief) | Unknown | |
| 1927 | Congressman Henry Clay | National Capitol Park | Caracas, Venezuela |
| 1928 | Painter James McNeill Whistler (bust) | Hall of Remembrance, New York University | New York, New York |
| 1929 | Dr. J. Marion Sims (bust) | State Office Building | Columbia, South Carolina |
| 1929 | Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (bust) | Hall of Fame for Great Americans | The Bronx, New York |
| 1930 | Founding Father John Quincy Adams (bust) | Hall of Fame for Great Americans | The Bronx, New York |
Paintings
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Subject !! Place !! Location | |||
| 1895 | Clown | La Salle University Art Museum | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 1911 | Portrait of Attilio Piccirilli | National Academy of Design | New York, New York |
| 1915 | Portrait of Sherry Edmundson Fry | National Academy of Design | New York, New York |
| 1919 | Portrait of Furio Piccirilli | National Academy of Design | New York, New York |
Gallery
File:Gramercy Park Edwin Booth statue.jpg|Actor Edwin Booth (1918), Gramercy Park, New York City.
File:Pemberton statue at Vicksburg National Military Park.jpg|General John C. Pemberton (1917), Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi.
File:WLHC Fall 07008.jpg|Harry Wright Monument (1897), West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwydd, Pennsylvania.
File:Kings Mountain National Military Park - South Carolina (8558911902) (2).jpg|Bas reliefs (1908), King's Mountain Battle Monument, South Carolina.
File:PittsburghAthleticAssociation.jpg|Pittsburgh Athletic Association (1911), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
File:New Rochelle WWI Memorial American Architect Feb. 15, 1922 p.129.jpg|Victory (1921), World War I Memorial, New Rochelle, New York.
File:Edwin Booth HoF jeh.jpg|Edwin Booth (1926), Hall of Fame for Great Americans, Bronx, New York City.
File:Central Park NYC - Victor Herbert statue by Edmund Thomas Quinn - IMG 5718 crop.JPG|Victor Herbert (1927), Central Park, New York City.
File:J. Marion Sims statue in Columbia, SC IMG 4780.JPG|Dr. J. Marion Sims (1929), Columbia, South Carolina.
References
Sources
- Dearinger, David Bernard. Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design 2004:455.
Notes
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External links
- {{commons category-inline}}
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Category:National Academy of Design associates
Category:American architectural sculptors
Category:Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni
Category:Artists who died by suicide
Category:Artists from Philadelphia
Category:Suicides by drowning in the United States
Category:Suicides in New York City
Category:19th-century American painters
Category:American male painters
Category:19th-century American sculptors
Category:American male sculptors
Category:20th-century American sculptors
Category:20th-century American male artists
Category:Painters from Pennsylvania
Category:20th-century American painters
Category:National Sculpture Society members
Category:Sculptors from Pennsylvania
Category:Students of Thomas Eakins