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John Frazee
Sculptor
(1790–1852)
Virtually unknown by the public today, Frazee nonetheless was a man of firsts: born in Rahway, New Jersey, he was the first American to fashion a portrait in marble, and he was the first artist to receive a commission for a sculpture (1831) in the U.S. Capitol, a likeness of John Jay, the nation's first chief justice.
Frazee's reputation led to other commissions in fairly quick succession. Between 1832 and 1835, the peak of his career, his subjects included prominent New York banker Nathaniel Prime; mathematician-astronomer Nathaniel Bowditch; Daniel Webster; Chief Justice John Marshall; Justice Joseph Story, and President Andrew Jackson.
Differing from his classically trained competitors, Frazee was apparently largely self-taught. It is known that he began his career as a carver of cemetery stones in rural New Jersey. He also chiseled a cornerstone for a bridge in that state. His work was intricate and filled with complex lettering and garnished with neoclassical designs.
He moved to New York in 1818 and specialized in memorial tablets which would remain his specialty. In 1824 he was admitted to the prestigious American Academy of Fine Arts. During the late 1830s competition caused him to bitterly turn his career to architecture and serious illness brought Frazee's career to an end. He died in poverty and obscurity in Brooklyn in 1852.
Sculptor
(1790–1852)
Virtually unknown by the public today, Frazee nonetheless was a man of firsts: born in Rahway, New Jersey, he was the first American to fashion a portrait in marble, and he was the first artist to receive a commission for a sculpture (1831) in the U.S. Capitol, a likeness of John Jay, the nation's first chief justice.
Frazee's reputation led to other commissions in fairly quick succession. Between 1832 and 1835, the peak of his career, his subjects included prominent New York banker Nathaniel Prime; mathematician-astronomer Nathaniel Bowditch; Daniel Webster; Chief Justice John Marshall; Justice Joseph Story, and President Andrew Jackson.
Differing from his classically trained competitors, Frazee was apparently largely self-taught. It is known that he began his career as a carver of cemetery stones in rural New Jersey. He also chiseled a cornerstone for a bridge in that state. His work was intricate and filled with complex lettering and garnished with neoclassical designs.
He moved to New York in 1818 and specialized in memorial tablets which would remain his specialty. In 1824 he was admitted to the prestigious American Academy of Fine Arts. During the late 1830s competition caused him to bitterly turn his career to architecture and serious illness brought Frazee's career to an end. He died in poverty and obscurity in Brooklyn in 1852.
Artist Objects
Bust of George Griswold III, ca 1842 1976.2.a-d
Bust of George Griswold, III 1985.23