Artist

Hiram Powers

born Woodstock, VT 1805-died Florence, Italy 1873
Media - powers_hiram.jpg - 90517
Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Born
Woodstock, Vermont, United States
Died
Florence, Italy
Active in
  • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
  • Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Biography

Born and grew up in Vermont, later lived in Ohio before moving to Florence, Italy, in 1837. Sculptor who produced lifelike portrait busts such as Andrew Jackson (1835) and idealized figures such as The Greek Slave (1843) that helped to overcome the public's dislike of female nudity in art.

Charles Sullivan, ed American Beauties: Women in Art and Literature (New York: Henry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with National Museum of American Art, 1993)

Works by this artist (164 items)

Hiram Powers, Louisa Powers' Hand, 1839, plaster and fabric trim, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.128
Louisa Powers’ Hand
Date1839
plaster and fabric trim
On view
Hiram Powers, Anna Hazard Barker Ward, modeled 1837-1838, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.35
Anna Hazard Barker Ward
Datemodeled 1837-1838
plaster
On view
Hiram Powers, Anstiss Derby Rogers Wetmore, modeled 1843, plaster and metal pins, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.99
Anstiss Derby Rogers Wetmore
Datemodeled 1843
plaster and metal pins
On view
Hiram Powers, John Slidell, modeled 1840, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.26
John Slidell
Datemodeled 1840
plaster
On view

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      • 3D Scanning the "Greek Slave" by Hiram Powers 3D Scanning the "Greek Slave" by Hiram Powers
      • 3D scanning Hiram Powers' "Greek Slave" plaster - Time-lapse 3D scanning Hiram Powers' "Greek Slave" plaster - Time-lapse

      Exhibitions

      Media - 1968.155.1 - SAAM-1968.155.1_3 - 80074
      Measured Perfection: Hiram Powers’ Greek Slave
      July 2, 2015July 8, 2017
      This one-gallery exhibition reveals the inner workings of the studio of Hiram Powers (1805–1873), who was among the most innovative sculptors of the nineteenth century, eagerly adapting long-standing sculpture traditions to new technologies of his age.