It Runs in the Family!

To highlight Take Our Daughters to Work Day, we feature a father-daughter sculpting duo.

Sculptor Daniel Chester French experienced fame early with The Minute Man (1875) at Concord, Massachusetts, and he quickly moved to the forefront of American sculpture, creating allegorical figures in the Neoclassical style. He also created the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., dedicated in 1922.

His daughter, Margaret French Cresson (pictured below) followed in her father's footsteps, though portrait busts were her specialty. Daniel Chester French (1923), Richard C. Byrd (1927), and The Unknown Soldier (1940) are outstanding examples of her work.

Both of these photos come from our extensive collection of artist portraits by the Peter A. Juley and Son studio. You can research other artists in the Juley Collection or order the book on our website.

Source: Joan Stahl. American Artists in Photographic Portraits from the Peter A. Juley & Son Collection (Washington, D.C. and Mineola, New York: National Museum of American Art and Dover Publications, Inc., 1995).

Pictured top: Photograph of Daniel Chester French, 1850–1931. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Peter A. Juley & Son Collection.

Pictured bottom: Photograph of Margaret French Cresson, 1889–1973. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Peter A. Juley & Son Collection.