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Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

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Harriet Hosmer

Portrait of Wayman Crow, Sr.

1866

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The American artist Harriet Hosmer spent much of her career in Rome, where she specialized in neoclassical sculpture, becoming one of the most celebrated women artists of the nineteenth century. This portrait pays homage to Wayman Crow, a founder of Washington University and the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts (now the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum) as well as an important benefactor of the artist. Crow was introduced to Hosmer by one of his daughters, who was Hosmer’s close friend; he played a pivotal role early in her career by helping her get admitted as the first woman to study anatomy at what would become the Washington University School of Medicine, and he remained one of her most loyal patrons. In this sculpture Hosmer fashioned his likeness in a highly idealized manner that recalls a bust of an ancient philosopher. The work was bestowed upon Crow at the University’s 1868 commencement ceremony, with “A Tribute of Gratitude” inscribed on it. Hosmer’s first original sculpture that she created in Rome, Daphne (1854) (WU 579), was also given by the artist to the Crow family.

  • Artist Harriet Hosmer (American, 1830–1908)
  • Title Portrait of Wayman Crow, Sr.
  • Date 1866
  • Medium Carrara marble
  • Dimensions unframed | 25 x 14 3/4 x 10 3/4 in.
  • Credit line Gift of the heirs of Wayman Crow, Sr., 1868
  • Object number WU 2061

Real / Radical / Psychological: The Collection on Display
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/09/2016 - 01/15/2017

Harriet Hosmer
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 05/02/2008 - 07/21/2008

Collecting Patterns
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/05/2003 - 12/07/2003

Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/21/2000 - 03/19/2000

1868
Wayman, Sr. Crow

Inscription [on front, chiseled into stone:] WAYMAN CROW

Inscription [on side, chiseled into stone:] ROME MDCCCLXVI / A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE

Inscription [on other side, chiseled into stone:] HARRIET HOSMER / SCULPT.

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.

Related Content

go to Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders page
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Exhibitions

Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders

January 21, 2000 - March 19, 2000
go to Collecting Patterns page
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Exhibitions

Collecting Patterns

September 05, 2003 - December 07, 2003
go to Harriet Hosmer page
no image
Exhibitions

Harriet Hosmer

May 02, 2008 - July 21, 2008
go to Real / Radical / Psychological: The Collection on Display page
no image
Exhibitions

Real / Radical / Psychological: The Collection on Display

September 09, 2016 - January 15, 2017

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