Hudson Maxim

Copied Moses Wainer Dykaar, Hudson Maxim, 1921, bronze, 22 1⁄2 x 20 1⁄2 x 12 1⁄2 in. (57.1 x 52.0 x 31.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 1922.3.1
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Artwork Details

Title
Hudson Maxim
Artist
Date
1921
Location
Dimensions
22 1⁄2 x 20 1⁄2 x 12 1⁄2 in. (57.1 x 52.0 x 31.8 cm)
Markings
side of figure's arm incised: M.W. DYKAAR/N.Y. 1921
Credit Line
Transfer from the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait
  • Occupation — science — inventor
  • Portrait male — Maxim, Hudson — bust
  • Portrait male — Maxim, Hudson — elderly
Object Number
1922.3.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1922.3.1

Artwork Description

Hudson Maxim invented many weapons that influenced modern warfare, including the first smokeless powder made in America and "maximite," the first high explosive able to pierce armor. As a child, he received little schooling and once worked for seventy-five cents to buy his first atlas so that he could "see where Napoleon lived." In 1888 he began experimenting with explosives and a year later built a dynamite factory and smokeless-powder mill in Maxim, New Jersey, a town named for him. Although he developed many forms of "concentrated destruction," Maxim was a firm believer in peaceful arbitration and wrote many books and lectures on the subject.