James Earle Fraser (sculptor)
| James E. Fraser | |
|---|---|
Fraser, c. 1920
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| Born |
November 4, 1876 Winona, Minnesota |
| Died | October 11, 1953 (aged 76) Westport, Connecticut |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago; École des Beaux-Arts |
| Known for | sculpture |
James Earle Fraser (November 4, 1876 – October 11, 1953) was an American sculptor during the first half of the 20th century. His work is integral to many of Washington, D.C.'s most iconic structures.
Fraser was born in Winona, Minnesota. His father, Thomas Fraser, was an engineer who worked for railroad companies as they expanded across the American West. A few months before his son was born, Thomas Fraser was one of a group of men sent to recover the remains of the 7th Cavalry Regiment following George Armstrong Custer's disastrous engagement with the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
As a child, James Fraser was exposed to frontier life and the experience of Native Americans, who were being pushed ever further west or confined to Indian reservations. These early memories were expressed in many of his works, from his earlier trials, such as the bust Indian Princess, pictured below, to his most famous projects, such as End of the Trail and the Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel.
Fraser began carving figures from pieces of limestone scavenged from a stone quarry close to his home near Mitchell, South Dakota in early life. He attended classes at the The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1890 and studied at the École des Beaux Arts and the Académie Julian in Paris in the late 19th century. Early in his career, Fraser served as an assistant to Richard Bock and Augustus Saint-Gaudens; he formed his own studio in 1902. He also taught at the Art Students League in New York City beginning in 1906, and later became its director. Among his earliest works were sculptural pieces at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and, for the San Francisco Exposition of 1915, one of his most famous pieces, End of the Trail.
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