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Avard Fairbanks

January 01, 1970

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (March 2, 1897 – January 1, 1987) was a 20th-century American sculptor. Over his eighty-year career, he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks.[1] Fairbanks is known for his religious-themed commissions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) including the Three Witnesses, Tragedy of Winter Quarters, and several Angel Moroni sculptures on spires of the church's temples.[2] Additionally, Fairbanks sculpted over a dozen Abraham Lincoln-themed sculptures and busts among which the most well-known reside in the U.S. Supreme Court Building and Ford's Theatre Museum.[3]

Avard Fairbanks
Fairbanks (ca. 1914)
Born
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks

(1897-03-02)March 2, 1897
Provo, Utah, US
DiedJanuary 1, 1987(1987-01-01) (aged 89)
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
Resting placeLarkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery
40°44′28″N 111°49′23″W / 40.741°N 111.823°W / 40.741; -111.823 (Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery)
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
OccupationSculptor
SpouseBeatrice M. Fox
Parent(s)John B Fairbanks
Lillie A. Huish

From a young age, Fairbanks was a talented artist. At 13 years old, he attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship and his work was displayed at the National Academy of Design a year later. In 1913, he studied abroad in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts where he was the youngest student admitted to the French salons. He taught sculpture at several universities and attended medical school at the University of Michigan where he earned a doctorate in anatomical studies in order to better represent the human body in his art.

Life edit

Early life and education edit

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was born on March 2, 1897, in Provo, Utah.[2][4] He was the last and eleventh child of the artist John B Fairbanks and Lilly Annetta Huish.[5] Fairbanks was introduced to art by his father and his brother, John Leo Fairbanks. His first piece of art was a small, clay rabbit that won first prize in the 1909 Utah State Fair.[2] However, after the judge learned of Fairbanks's young age, he revoked the prize.[6]: 1  Fairbanks joined his father in New York City to copy art pieces at the Metropolitan Museum, where he was reluctantly received by the curators due to his inexperience. However, he showed great skill and was called a "young Michelangelo" by the New York Herald, which led to other commissions such as animal models for the Bronx Zoological Gardens.[6]: 1  There, he was instructed by Anna Hyatt Huntington and Charles R. Knight.[6]: 2 

 
Older brother, John Leo Fairbanks, and younger brother, Avard Tennyson Fairbanks, 1912 in New York City, while Avard was studying art

He attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship at age 13, instructed by James Earle Fraser.[7][2] By the age of 14, his art was displayed at the National Academy of Design.[6]: 2  He returned to Utah after 18 months studying in New York, to prepare to study art abroad.[2] Fairbanks and his father tried to obtain as many commissions as possible to pay for his study abroad.[6]: 2  Among these commissions was a lion he sculpted out of butter for the Utah State Fair, channeling the butter sculpture fable of Antonio Canova.[2][8]: 145  This sculpture attracted a large audience and was well received.[6]: 2 

In 1913, Fairbanks studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, instructed by Jean Antoine Injalbert.[6]: 2  Additionally, he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, the Académie Colarossi, and the École Moderne.[6]: 2  He became the youngest student admitted to the French Salon; however, his studies were cut short due to World War I.[7][2] Fairbanks and his father escaped Europe on the last train out of Paris and the last spots available on the boat Ansonia leaving Liverpool, returning to New York with only fifteen cents between the two of them.[6]: 2 

Career edit

After returning from Paris, Fairbanks continued his artistry in Utah, focusing on clay modeling while completing high school.[9][2] Some of his pieces were displayed in the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in the Palace of Fine Arts.[6]: 2  In 1915, he received his first major commission sculpting statues and an elaborate frieze on the Laie Hawaii Temple for the LDS Church with his brother, J. Leo.[9][2] His romantic interest, Beatrice Maude Fox, from Taylorsville, Utah, joined him in Hawaii.[6]: 2  They married on June 25, 1918, in Honolulu, Hawaii.[2][10] After the project was finished in 1918, Fairbanks and Fox returned to Utah, where he enrolled at the University of Utah (U of U).[2] Due to his extensive artistic training, he took other academic courses and did not complete course study in art.[6]: 2 

In 1920, he became an assistant professor of art at the University of Oregon, teaching sculpture.[6]: 3 [11] Fairbanks took a sabbatical to study at Yale University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and returned to instruct at University of Oregon.[6]: 3  Fairbanks was offered a Guggenheim Fellowship to study art in Europe. Bringing his wife and four children along, he studied in England, France, and Italy; however, he spent most of his time in Florence, Italy.[6]: 3  Fairbanks studied underneath Dante Sodini. He created work for Arciconfraternita della Misericordia during this time as well as sculptures in the theme of spring and motherhood.[12][6]: 3  When Fairbanks returned in 1928, he taught a summer class[13][14] at Seattle Art Museum.[6]: 3  In 1929, he received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington, where he would construct the 91st Division Monument.[4][6]: 3  In 1933, Fairbanks, joined by his father and brother, created the Mormon Display for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Fairbanks sculpted, his brother made stained glass, and his father painted.[8]: 148–149  Fairbanks and his family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he attended medical school, earning MA and Ph.D. degrees in Anatomy in 1933 and 1936 respectively from the University of Michigan.[6]: 3  He did this in order to better and more accurately represent the human body in his work.[8]: 89  He began to use anatomical techniques in his subsequent artworks.[6]: 3  He was appointed professor of sculpture at the University of Michigan in 1930 and taught sculpture there until 1948.[15] While Fairbanks was living in Ann Arbor, he served for a time as the president of the branch of the LDS Church there.[2]

In 1947, Fairbanks created the Fine Arts Department at the U of U.[9][6]: 4  He served as dean and professor of Fine Art at the College of Fine Arts at the U of U from 1948 to 1955. He retired as dean in 1955, but continued teaching at the U of U for 10 years.[16] At the U of U, his conservative philosophy was that "modern abstraction was part of an international communist conspiracy."[17][18] In 1965, he became a resident sculptor, fine arts consultant, and lecturer at the University of North Dakota (UND).[6]: 7  After working at UND, Fairbanks retired, spending the rest of his life creating commissioned works.[3] Fairbanks died in Salt Lake City on January 1, 1987.[10]

Works edit

Religious edit

 
Three Witnesses Monument, by Avard Fairbanks

Fairbanks sculpted the statues of the Angel Moroni for the LDS Church on the Washington, D.C., Denver Colorado, Jordan River Utah, Mexico City Mexico, Seattle Washington, and São Paulo Brazil temples.[19][7][20] Many of the sculptures on Temple Square in Salt Lake City are by Fairbanks, including the Three Witnesses Monument.[21] Fairbanks also sculpted the "Tragedy of Winter Quarters" at the Winter Quarters Historical Site.[22][23] This project was particularly meaningful to him because his ancestors suffered in Winter Quarters when it was an encampment.[8]: 39  Fairbanks created a monument at the Priesthood Restoration Site in Oakland Township, Pennsylvania of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.[24] He created a sculpture of the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood for the Mormon Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair.[25] Although most of his later work was free-standing sculptures, Fairbanks did create several friezes for the Harold B. Lee Library on the Brigham Young University campus.[7]

Historical edit

 
Bust of Roscoe Pound created by Fairbanks in 1981 for the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

In the 1920s, Fairbanks sculpted the St. Anthony's Doughboy which resides in Keefer Park in Idaho.[26] While Fairbanks was a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon,[27] he created his Oregon Trail sculpture. Around 1925–26, he designed several bas relief panels, cast in bronze, for large doors of the United States National Bank Building in Portland. The door's panels represent ideals of American life such as "Knowledge and Service", "Domestic Welfare", and "Progress through Direction".[28]

 
Two of several bronze-relief panels Fairbanks designed for the doors of the United States National Bank Building, in Portland, Oregon

Fairbanks made a statue of Lycurgus and was consequently knighted by King Paul of Greece.[9][29] Other monuments he created include the Pony Express, Pioneer family (at the Bismarck State Capitol), Daniel Jackling (at the Utah State Capitol), and Prime Minister of Canada McKenzie King (at Ottawa Parliament buildings).[7] He also did multiple statues of Abraham Lincoln at Ford Theater and the U.S. Supreme Court (including The Chicago Lincoln) and The Resolute Lincoln at Lincoln's New Salem.[30][7] Additionally, he designed and sculpted a George Washington statue at the Washington State Capitol Building.[7] Other prominent figures he sculpted included John Burke, Esther Morris, and Marcus Whitman, residing in the National Capitol Building.[7] He created the Pegasus sculpture in the northeast garden at the Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester Hills, Michigan.[31] He also created an Ezra Meeker bust for the University of Oregon and a tabernacle door for the Altar of St. Mary's Cathedral in Eugene, Oregon.[32] Additionally, Fairbanks constructed a 200-pound bronze medallion to commemorate the Oregon Trail.[33] He also created a bust of Roscoe Pound in 1981 for the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

 
A view of Meadowbrook Hall from the northeast garden with the Pegasus sculpture by Avard Fairbanks

Three of his sculptures are in the United States Capitol, two of them in National Statuary Hall and one in a corridor;[34] seven other statues are placed in Washington, D.C. The state capitols in Washington, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, as well as numerous other locations, also have his works. Possibly his most widely distributed artistic contribution was the charging ram symbol of the Dodge automobile.[2] Other radiator ornaments he designed included the Winged Mermaid of the Plymouth and a Griffin for the Hudson automobiles.[35]: 38 [36]

Family edit

Avard Fairbanks was a son of John B. Fairbanks, an artist who also had studied in Paris art academies[37] and was briefly an art professor at Brigham Young Academy.[38] His mother, Lilly Annetta Huish, died on May 12, 1898, about a year after he was born as a result of an injury related to a fall she had while she was carrying the fourteen-month-old Fairbanks.[8]: 127  Avard's brother, J. Leo Fairbanks, was also an artist who had studied both painting and sculpture in the Paris art academies; Fairbanks considered his brother his first instructor and his mentor.[35]: vii 

Fairbanks had eight biological sons. Justin served as director of the art department at Eastern Arizona University.[2] Jonathan Leo Fairbanks was the curator of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the early 1990s.[2] Jonathan served as director of art and architecture for Salt Lake City Schools until he was appointed Professor of Art and Chairman of the Art Department at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.[39] Elliot was a dean at the College of Eastern Utah. Eugene, Virgil, David, and Grant became physicians.[2] Avard Jr. was a physicist and inventor.[40] His second eldest son, Eugene F. Fairbanks, compiled 10 books using archival material to illustrate his father's sculpture career.[41] According to Abbott's book, My Return, Fairbanks also briefly served as a foster parent to Jack Henry Abbott.[42] In 1956, after completing the Lycurgus in Sparta, Fairbanks and his wife adopted two young Greek sisters.[2]

Awards and honors edit

Fairbanks was a member of many organizations and societies, including National Sculpture Society, the Architectural League of New York, the International Institute of Arts and Letters, the Protetore Della Contrada Della Torre da Siena, Italy, and the Circolo Delgi Artisti di Firenzi. He was also an honorary member of the Society of Oregon Artists.[6]: 7  Fairbanks was awarded Herbert Adams Memorial Medal by the National Sculpture Society for his contributions to American sculpture.[6]: 7  Additionally, Paul of Greece awarded Fairbanks a medal of the Knights of Thermopylae. Fairbanks received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Lincoln College and the Lincoln Diploma of Honor from Lincoln Memorial University.[6]: 7  Moreover, he received the Sesquicentennial Commission of the Congress of the United States.[6]: 7 

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ "Avard Fairbanks' works exhibited in visitors center". Church News. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. June 24, 1995. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Woolley, Athelia T. (September 1987). "Art to Edify: The Work of Avard T. Fairbanks". Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Fairbanks, Eugene (Summer 2005). "Sculptural Commemorations of Abraham Lincoln by Avard T. Fairbanks". Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. 26 (2). Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Avard T. Fairbanks". J. Willard Marriott Library. The University of Utah. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  5. ^ Fairbanks, Lorenzo Sayles (1897). Genealogy of the Fairbanks family in America, 1633-1897. Boston: American Printing and Engraving Company. p. 787. Retrieved June 7, 2019. john b fairbanks genealogy.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Fairbanks, Eugene F. (1972). A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone: The Sacred Sculpture of Avard T. Fairbanks. Salt Lake City, Utah: Publisher's Press.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Garr, Arnold K.; Cannon, Donald Q.; Cowan, Richard O., eds. (2000). "Fairbanks, Avard". Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History. Salt Lake City, Utah: Desert Book Company. pp. 355–356. ISBN 1573458228.
  8. ^ a b c d e Cope, Rachel (August 2003). John B. Fairbanks: The Man Behind the Canvas (MA thesis). Brigham Young University. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d Ludlow, Daniel H., ed. (1992). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. p. 1286. ISBN 0028796055. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  10. ^ a b John Murphy (2007). "Avard T. Fairbanks papers". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, UT. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  11. ^ Swanson, Vern g.; Olpin, Robert S.; Poulton, Donna L.; Rogers, Janie L. (2001). Utah Art, Utah Artists: 150 Year Survey. Springville, Utah: Springville Museum of Art. p. 81. ISBN 158685111X. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  12. ^ James A. Toronto, Eric R. Dursteler and Michael W. Homer, Mormons in the Piazza: The Latter-day Saints in Italy (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Company and Brigham Young University Religious Studies center, 2017), p. 201
  13. ^ "ART INSTITUTE OF SEATTLE ANNUAL REPORT 1929-1930". Seattle Art Museum Libraries: Digital Collections. Lloyd Owen Printer. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  14. ^ "ART INSTITUTE ANNOUNCEMENT June 1929". Seattle Art Museum Libraries: Digital Collections. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Avard Fairbanks". Utah Division of Arts & Museums. Utah Department of Heritage & Arts. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  16. ^ Capcace, Nancy (2001). The Encyclopedia of Utah. St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers. pp. 183–184. ISBN 9780403096091. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  17. ^ Gergts, William, introduction, essays by Vern G. Swanson, Robert S. Olpin, William C. Seifrit, Utah Painting and Sculpture, Gibbs, Smith Publishing. Salt Lake City, 1997p. 143
  18. ^ Fairbanks, Eugene F., A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone: Sacred Sculpture by Avard T. Fairbanks, Publishers Press, Salt Lake City, 1972, p. 4
  19. ^ Petersen, Sarah (November 8, 2012). "A historical tour through LDS temple Angel Moroni statues". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  20. ^ Grimes, Stephanie (April 4, 2013). "$80K bronze statue stolen from SLC medical plaza". KSL. KSL Broadcasting. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  21. ^ Dockstader, Julie A. (April 4, 1992). "Mormon values set in stone, bronze". Church News. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  22. ^ Beck, Gwen B. (August 24, 1991). "55-year-old monument being restored". Church News. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  23. ^ Swensen, Jason (April 8, 1999). "LDS Church buys Winter Quarters cemetery". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  24. ^ "Priesthood Restoration Site". Historic Sites. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  25. ^ Top, Brent L., "The Miracle of the Mormon Pavilion: The Church at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair" in Porter, Larry C., Milton V. Backman Jr. and Susan Easton Black, ed., Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History: New York (Provo: BYU Department of Church History and Doctrine, 1992) p. 245
  26. ^ Smith, Lisa Dayley (December 26, 2017). "Keefer Park's Doughboy to get facelift". Standard Journal. Rexburg Standard Journal. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  27. ^ Greenthal, Kozol, Rameirez & Fairbanks, American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1986
  28. ^ John M. Tess (December 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: United States National Bank Building" (PDF). National Park Service. Item Number 7, p. 2. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  29. ^ Wagner, Danielle B. "4 Latter-day Saints Who Have Been Knighted". LDS Living. Deseret Book Company. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  30. ^ Steiner, Mark E. (Fall 2009). "Abraham Lincoln and the Rule of Law Books". Marquette Law Review. 93 (1): 1287. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  31. ^ "Estate Ground". Meadow Brook. Meadow Brook Hall. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  32. ^ "Avard Fairbanks". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  33. ^ Schmitt, Will (June 7, 2016). "Jackson County receives 200-pound Oregon Trail medallion". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  34. ^ Viles, Philip H. Jr., National Statuary Hall: Guidebook for a Walking Tour, Published by Philip H. Viles, Tulsa OK, 1997
  35. ^ a b Fairbanks, Eugene F. (2001). A Sculpture Garden of Fantasy. Bellevue, WA: Elfin Cove Press. ISBN 0944958346. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  36. ^ Alexander, Kay; Day, Michael, eds. (1991). Discipline-Based Art Education: A Curriculum Sampler. Los Angeles, California: The J. Paul Getty Trust. pp. F-40–45, F-53. ISBN 0892361719. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  37. ^ Florence, Jr., Giles H. (October 1988). "Harvesting the Light: The 1890 Paris Art Mission". Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  38. ^ Warburton, Brian A. "John B. Fairbanks". BYU Library. Brigham Young University. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  39. ^ "J. Leo Fairbanks". J. Willard Marriott Library. The University of Utah. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  40. ^ "Avard Fairbanks Obituary". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. March 24, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  41. ^ Davis, Norma S. "A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone: The Sacred Sculpture of Avard T. Fairbanks Review". BYU Studies Quarterly. Brigham Young University. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  42. ^ Abbott, Jack Henry (1987). My Return. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 186. ISBN 0879753552.

Further reading edit

  • Fairbanks, Eugene F. (1994) [1972], A Sculptor's Testimony in Bronze and Stone: the Sacred Sculpture of Avard T. Fairbanks (Rev. ed.), Salt Lake City, Utah: Fairbanks Art and Books (printer: Publishers Press), ISBN 0-916095-58-4, OCLC 32926833

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avard Fairbanks.
  • Avard Fairbanks official website
Avard Fairbanks official website created by Eugene Fairbanks which includes lists of major works and locations, a sculpture sales gallery, and a list of books about Fairbanks
    An archived tribute website to Fairbanks created by Jefferson Fairbanks which includes descriptions and histories of Fairbanks's major works
    Avard Fairbanks's personal papers collection which includes correspondence, lecture notes, addresses, sketches, and drawings
    • Fairbanks, Avard, Life of Avard T. Fairbanks, Sculptor,(MSS 7396), L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
    Original manuscript of a Fairbanks unpublished biography by Eugene Fairbanks

    January 01, 1970
    avard, fairbanks, avard, tennyson, fairbanks, march, 1897, january, 1987, 20th, century, american, sculptor, over, eighty, year, career, sculpted, over, public, monuments, hundreds, artworks, fairbanks, known, religious, themed, commissions, church, jesus, chr. Avard Tennyson Fairbanks March 2 1897 January 1 1987 was a 20th century American sculptor Over his eighty year career he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks 1 Fairbanks is known for his religious themed commissions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS Church including the Three Witnesses Tragedy of Winter Quarters and several Angel Moroni sculptures on spires of the church s temples 2 Additionally Fairbanks sculpted over a dozen Abraham Lincoln themed sculptures and busts among which the most well known reside in the U S Supreme Court Building and Ford s Theatre Museum 3 Avard FairbanksFairbanks ca 1914 BornAvard Tennyson Fairbanks 1897 03 02 March 2 1897Provo Utah USDiedJanuary 1 1987 1987 01 01 aged 89 Salt Lake City Utah USResting placeLarkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery40 44 28 N 111 49 23 W 40 741 N 111 823 W 40 741 111 823 Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery Alma materUniversity of MichiganOccupationSculptorSpouseBeatrice M FoxParent s John B FairbanksLillie A Huish From a young age Fairbanks was a talented artist At 13 years old he attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship and his work was displayed at the National Academy of Design a year later In 1913 he studied abroad in Paris at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux Arts where he was the youngest student admitted to the French salons He taught sculpture at several universities and attended medical school at the University of Michigan where he earned a doctorate in anatomical studies in order to better represent the human body in his art Contents 1 Life 1 1 Early life and education 1 2 Career 2 Works 2 1 Religious 2 2 Historical 3 Family 4 Awards and honors 5 See also 6 Notes 7 Further reading 8 External linksLife editEarly life and education edit Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was born on March 2 1897 in Provo Utah 2 4 He was the last and eleventh child of the artist John B Fairbanks and Lilly Annetta Huish 5 Fairbanks was introduced to art by his father and his brother John Leo Fairbanks His first piece of art was a small clay rabbit that won first prize in the 1909 Utah State Fair 2 However after the judge learned of Fairbanks s young age he revoked the prize 6 1 Fairbanks joined his father in New York City to copy art pieces at the Metropolitan Museum where he was reluctantly received by the curators due to his inexperience However he showed great skill and was called a young Michelangelo by the New York Herald which led to other commissions such as animal models for the Bronx Zoological Gardens 6 1 There he was instructed by Anna Hyatt Huntington and Charles R Knight 6 2 nbsp Older brother John Leo Fairbanks and younger brother Avard Tennyson Fairbanks 1912 in New York City while Avard was studying art He attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship at age 13 instructed by James Earle Fraser 7 2 By the age of 14 his art was displayed at the National Academy of Design 6 2 He returned to Utah after 18 months studying in New York to prepare to study art abroad 2 Fairbanks and his father tried to obtain as many commissions as possible to pay for his study abroad 6 2 Among these commissions was a lion he sculpted out of butter for the Utah State Fair channeling the butter sculpture fable of Antonio Canova 2 8 145 This sculpture attracted a large audience and was well received 6 2 In 1913 Fairbanks studied at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris instructed by Jean Antoine Injalbert 6 2 Additionally he studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere the Academie Colarossi and the Ecole Moderne 6 2 He became the youngest student admitted to the French Salon however his studies were cut short due to World War I 7 2 Fairbanks and his father escaped Europe on the last train out of Paris and the last spots available on the boat Ansonia leaving Liverpool returning to New York with only fifteen cents between the two of them 6 2 Career edit After returning from Paris Fairbanks continued his artistry in Utah focusing on clay modeling while completing high school 9 2 Some of his pieces were displayed in the Panama Pacific International Exposition in the Palace of Fine Arts 6 2 In 1915 he received his first major commission sculpting statues and an elaborate frieze on the Laie Hawaii Temple for the LDS Church with his brother J Leo 9 2 His romantic interest Beatrice Maude Fox from Taylorsville Utah joined him in Hawaii 6 2 They married on June 25 1918 in Honolulu Hawaii 2 10 After the project was finished in 1918 Fairbanks and Fox returned to Utah where he enrolled at the University of Utah U of U 2 Due to his extensive artistic training he took other academic courses and did not complete course study in art 6 2 In 1920 he became an assistant professor of art at the University of Oregon teaching sculpture 6 3 11 Fairbanks took a sabbatical to study at Yale University earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and returned to instruct at University of Oregon 6 3 Fairbanks was offered a Guggenheim Fellowship to study art in Europe Bringing his wife and four children along he studied in England France and Italy however he spent most of his time in Florence Italy 6 3 Fairbanks studied underneath Dante Sodini He created work for Arciconfraternita della Misericordia during this time as well as sculptures in the theme of spring and motherhood 12 6 3 When Fairbanks returned in 1928 he taught a summer class 13 14 at Seattle Art Museum 6 3 In 1929 he received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington where he would construct the 91st Division Monument 4 6 3 In 1933 Fairbanks joined by his father and brother created the Mormon Display for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago Fairbanks sculpted his brother made stained glass and his father painted 8 148 149 Fairbanks and his family moved to Ann Arbor Michigan where he attended medical school earning MA and Ph D degrees in Anatomy in 1933 and 1936 respectively from the University of Michigan 6 3 He did this in order to better and more accurately represent the human body in his work 8 89 He began to use anatomical techniques in his subsequent artworks 6 3 He was appointed professor of sculpture at the University of Michigan in 1930 and taught sculpture there until 1948 15 While Fairbanks was living in Ann Arbor he served for a time as the president of the branch of the LDS Church there 2 In 1947 Fairbanks created the Fine Arts Department at the U of U 9 6 4 He served as dean and professor of Fine Art at the College of Fine Arts at the U of U from 1948 to 1955 He retired as dean in 1955 but continued teaching at the U of U for 10 years 16 At the U of U his conservative philosophy was that modern abstraction was part of an international communist conspiracy 17 18 In 1965 he became a resident sculptor fine arts consultant and lecturer at the University of North Dakota UND 6 7 After working at UND Fairbanks retired spending the rest of his life creating commissioned works 3 Fairbanks died in Salt Lake City on January 1 1987 10 Works editReligious edit nbsp Three Witnesses Monument by Avard Fairbanks Fairbanks sculpted the statues of the Angel Moroni for the LDS Church on the Washington D C Denver Colorado Jordan River Utah Mexico City Mexico Seattle Washington and Sao Paulo Brazil temples 19 7 20 Many of the sculptures on Temple Square in Salt Lake City are by Fairbanks including the Three Witnesses Monument 21 Fairbanks also sculpted the Tragedy of Winter Quarters at the Winter Quarters Historical Site 22 23 This project was particularly meaningful to him because his ancestors suffered in Winter Quarters when it was an encampment 8 39 Fairbanks created a monument at the Priesthood Restoration Site in Oakland Township Pennsylvania of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood 24 He created a sculpture of the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood for the Mormon Pavilion at the 1964 New York World s Fair 25 Although most of his later work was free standing sculptures Fairbanks did create several friezes for the Harold B Lee Library on the Brigham Young University campus 7 Historical edit nbsp Bust of Roscoe Pound created by Fairbanks in 1981 for the Nebraska Hall of Fame In the 1920s Fairbanks sculpted the St Anthony s Doughboy which resides in Keefer Park in Idaho 26 While Fairbanks was a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon 27 he created his Oregon Trail sculpture Around 1925 26 he designed several bas relief panels cast in bronze for large doors of the United States National Bank Building in Portland The door s panels represent ideals of American life such as Knowledge and Service Domestic Welfare and Progress through Direction 28 nbsp Two of several bronze relief panels Fairbanks designed for the doors of the United States National Bank Building in Portland OregonFairbanks made a statue of Lycurgus and was consequently knighted by King Paul of Greece 9 29 Other monuments he created include the Pony Express Pioneer family at the Bismarck State Capitol Daniel Jackling at the Utah State Capitol and Prime Minister of Canada McKenzie King at Ottawa Parliament buildings 7 He also did multiple statues of Abraham Lincoln at Ford Theater and the U S Supreme Court including The Chicago Lincoln and The Resolute Lincoln at Lincoln s New Salem 30 7 Additionally he designed and sculpted a George Washington statue at the Washington State Capitol Building 7 Other prominent figures he sculpted included John Burke Esther Morris and Marcus Whitman residing in the National Capitol Building 7 He created the Pegasus sculpture in the northeast garden at the Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester Hills Michigan 31 He also created an Ezra Meeker bust for the University of Oregon and a tabernacle door for the Altar of St Mary s Cathedral in Eugene Oregon 32 Additionally Fairbanks constructed a 200 pound bronze medallion to commemorate the Oregon Trail 33 He also created a bust of Roscoe Pound in 1981 for the Nebraska Hall of Fame nbsp A view of Meadowbrook Hall from the northeast garden with the Pegasus sculpture by Avard Fairbanks Three of his sculptures are in the United States Capitol two of them in National Statuary Hall and one in a corridor 34 seven other statues are placed in Washington D C The state capitols in Washington North Dakota Utah and Wyoming as well as numerous other locations also have his works Possibly his most widely distributed artistic contribution was the charging ram symbol of the Dodge automobile 2 Other radiator ornaments he designed included the Winged Mermaid of the Plymouth and a Griffin for the Hudson automobiles 35 38 36 Family editAvard Fairbanks was a son of John B Fairbanks an artist who also had studied in Paris art academies 37 and was briefly an art professor at Brigham Young Academy 38 His mother Lilly Annetta Huish died on May 12 1898 about a year after he was born as a result of an injury related to a fall she had while she was carrying the fourteen month old Fairbanks 8 127 Avard s brother J Leo Fairbanks was also an artist who had studied both painting and sculpture in the Paris art academies Fairbanks considered his brother his first instructor and his mentor 35 vii Fairbanks had eight biological sons Justin served as director of the art department at Eastern Arizona University 2 Jonathan Leo Fairbanks was the curator of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the early 1990s 2 Jonathan served as director of art and architecture for Salt Lake City Schools until he was appointed Professor of Art and Chairman of the Art Department at Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon 39 Elliot was a dean at the College of Eastern Utah Eugene Virgil David and Grant became physicians 2 Avard Jr was a physicist and inventor 40 His second eldest son Eugene F Fairbanks compiled 10 books using archival material to illustrate his father s sculpture career 41 According to Abbott s book My Return Fairbanks also briefly served as a foster parent to Jack Henry Abbott 42 In 1956 after completing the Lycurgus in Sparta Fairbanks and his wife adopted two young Greek sisters 2 Awards and honors editFairbanks was a member of many organizations and societies including National Sculpture Society the Architectural League of New York the International Institute of Arts and Letters the Protetore Della Contrada Della Torre da Siena Italy and the Circolo Delgi Artisti di Firenzi He was also an honorary member of the Society of Oregon Artists 6 7 Fairbanks was awarded Herbert Adams Memorial Medal by the National Sculpture Society for his contributions to American sculpture 6 7 Additionally Paul of Greece awarded Fairbanks a medal of the Knights of Thermopylae Fairbanks received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Lincoln College and the Lincoln Diploma of Honor from Lincoln Memorial University 6 7 Moreover he received the Sesquicentennial Commission of the Congress of the United States 6 7 See also editMormon art Ortho Rollin Fairbanks nephewNotes edit Avard Fairbanks works exhibited in visitors center Church News The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints June 24 1995 Retrieved June 6 2019 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Woolley Athelia T September 1987 Art to Edify The Work of Avard T Fairbanks Ensign The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Retrieved June 6 2019 a b Fairbanks Eugene Summer 2005 Sculptural Commemorations of Abraham Lincoln by Avard T Fairbanks Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 26 2 Retrieved June 6 2019 a b Avard T Fairbanks J Willard Marriott Library The University of Utah Retrieved May 31 2019 Fairbanks Lorenzo Sayles 1897 Genealogy of the Fairbanks family in America 1633 1897 Boston American Printing and Engraving Company p 787 Retrieved June 7 2019 john b fairbanks genealogy a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Fairbanks Eugene F 1972 A Sculptor s Testimony in Bronze and Stone The Sacred Sculpture of Avard T Fairbanks Salt Lake City Utah Publisher s Press a b c d e f g h Garr Arnold K Cannon Donald Q Cowan Richard O eds 2000 Fairbanks Avard Encyclopedia of Latter day Saint History Salt Lake City Utah Desert Book Company pp 355 356 ISBN 1573458228 a b c d e Cope Rachel August 2003 John B Fairbanks The Man Behind the Canvas MA thesis Brigham Young University Retrieved June 7 2019 a b c d Ludlow Daniel H ed 1992 Encyclopedia of Mormonism New York Macmillan Publishing Company p 1286 ISBN 0028796055 Retrieved May 31 2019 a b John Murphy 2007 Avard T Fairbanks papers Prepared for the L Tom Perry Special Collections Provo UT Retrieved May 31 2019 Swanson Vern g Olpin Robert S Poulton Donna L Rogers Janie L 2001 Utah Art Utah Artists 150 Year Survey Springville Utah Springville Museum of Art p 81 ISBN 158685111X Retrieved May 31 2019 James A Toronto Eric R Dursteler and Michael W Homer Mormons in the Piazza The Latter day Saints in Italy Salt Lake City and Provo Deseret Book Company and Brigham Young University Religious Studies center 2017 p 201 ART INSTITUTE OF SEATTLE ANNUAL REPORT 1929 1930 Seattle Art Museum Libraries Digital Collections Lloyd Owen Printer Retrieved 1 February 2021 ART INSTITUTE ANNOUNCEMENT June 1929 Seattle Art Museum Libraries Digital Collections Retrieved 1 February 2021 Avard Fairbanks Utah Division of Arts amp Museums Utah Department of Heritage amp Arts Retrieved May 31 2019 Capcace Nancy 2001 The Encyclopedia of Utah St Clair Shores MI Somerset Publishers pp 183 184 ISBN 9780403096091 Retrieved June 7 2019 Gergts William introduction essays by Vern G Swanson Robert S Olpin William C Seifrit Utah Painting and Sculpture Gibbs Smith Publishing Salt Lake City 1997p 143 Fairbanks Eugene F A Sculptor s Testimony in Bronze and Stone Sacred Sculpture by Avard T Fairbanks Publishers Press Salt Lake City 1972 p 4 Petersen Sarah November 8 2012 A historical tour through LDS temple Angel Moroni statues Deseret News Deseret News Publishing Company Retrieved May 31 2019 Grimes Stephanie April 4 2013 80K bronze statue stolen from SLC medical plaza KSL KSL Broadcasting Retrieved May 31 2019 Dockstader Julie A April 4 1992 Mormon values set in stone bronze Church News The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Retrieved May 31 2019 Beck Gwen B August 24 1991 55 year old monument being restored Church News The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Retrieved May 31 2019 Swensen Jason April 8 1999 LDS Church buys Winter Quarters cemetery Deseret News Deseret News Publishing Company Retrieved May 31 2019 Priesthood Restoration Site Historic Sites The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Retrieved May 31 2019 Top Brent L The Miracle of the Mormon Pavilion The Church at the 1964 1965 New York World s Fair in Porter Larry C Milton V Backman Jr and Susan Easton Black ed Regional Studies in Latter day Saint History New York Provo BYU Department of Church History and Doctrine 1992 p 245 Smith Lisa Dayley December 26 2017 Keefer Park s Doughboy to get facelift Standard Journal Rexburg Standard Journal Retrieved June 6 2019 Greenthal Kozol Rameirez amp Fairbanks American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Museum of Fine Arts Boston 1986 John M Tess December 1985 National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form United States National Bank Building PDF National Park Service Item Number 7 p 2 Retrieved 2016 04 29 Wagner Danielle B 4 Latter day Saints Who Have Been Knighted LDS Living Deseret Book Company Retrieved June 7 2019 Steiner Mark E Fall 2009 Abraham Lincoln and the Rule of Law Books Marquette Law Review 93 1 1287 Retrieved June 7 2019 Estate Ground Meadow Brook Meadow Brook Hall Retrieved May 31 2019 Avard Fairbanks John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Retrieved June 6 2019 Schmitt Will June 7 2016 Jackson County receives 200 pound Oregon Trail medallion The Kansas City Star Retrieved June 6 2019 Viles Philip H Jr National Statuary Hall Guidebook for a Walking Tour Published by Philip H Viles Tulsa OK 1997 a b Fairbanks Eugene F 2001 A Sculpture Garden of Fantasy Bellevue WA Elfin Cove Press ISBN 0944958346 Retrieved May 31 2019 Alexander Kay Day Michael eds 1991 Discipline Based Art Education A Curriculum Sampler Los Angeles California The J Paul Getty Trust pp F 40 45 F 53 ISBN 0892361719 Retrieved May 31 2019 Florence Jr Giles H October 1988 Harvesting the Light The 1890 Paris Art Mission Ensign The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Retrieved May 31 2019 Warburton Brian A John B Fairbanks BYU Library Brigham Young University Retrieved May 31 2019 J Leo Fairbanks J Willard Marriott Library The University of Utah Retrieved May 31 2019 Avard Fairbanks Obituary Deseret News Deseret News Publishing Company March 24 2010 Retrieved June 4 2019 Davis Norma S A Sculptor s Testimony in Bronze and Stone The Sacred Sculpture of Avard T Fairbanks Review BYU Studies Quarterly Brigham Young University Retrieved May 31 2019 Abbott Jack Henry 1987 My Return Buffalo New York Prometheus Books p 186 ISBN 0879753552 Further reading editFairbanks Eugene F 1994 1972 A Sculptor s Testimony in Bronze and Stone the Sacred Sculpture of Avard T Fairbanks Rev ed Salt Lake City Utah Fairbanks Art and Books printer Publishers Press ISBN 0 916095 58 4 OCLC 32926833External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avard Fairbanks Avard Fairbanks official website Avard Fairbanks official website created by Eugene Fairbanks which includes lists of major works and locations a sculpture sales gallery and a list of books about Fairbanks A tribute website to Fairbanks An archived tribute website to Fairbanks created by Jefferson Fairbanks which includes descriptions and histories of Fairbanks s major works Avard T Fairbanks papers MSS 5866 at L Tom Perry Special Collections Brigham Young University Avard Fairbanks s personal papers collection which includes correspondence lecture notes addresses sketches and drawings Fairbanks Avard Life of Avard T Fairbanks Sculptor MSS 7396 L Tom Perry Special Collections Harold B Lee Library Brigham Young University Original manuscript of a Fairbanks unpublished biography by Eugene Fairbanks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Avard Fairbanks amp oldid 1219889163, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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