Hiram Powers

Copied Charles Francis Fuller, Hiram Powers, modeled ca. 1870, plaster, 2021 3812 78 in. (50.854.332.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.10
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Hiram Powers
Date
modeled ca. 1870
Dimensions
2021 3812 78 in. (50.854.332.7 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
plaster
Classifications
Keywords
  • Occupation — art — sculptor
  • Portrait male — Powers, Hiram
  • Portrait male — Powers, Hiram — bust
Object Number
1968.155.10

Artwork Description

Hiram Powers nicknamed Charles Fuller “Captain” because of his student’s military experience. Along with fellow American sculptor Thomas Ball, they formed a small colony of expatriates in their neighborhood in Florence. Living in such close proximity, they visited one another’s studios, shared ideas, and created portraits of each other. Here, Fuller presented Powers as a contemplative and solemn-looking man, nearing the end of a long and successful career. Fuller exhibited the terra-cotta bust from which this cast was made at the Royal Academy in 1873, the year of Powers’s death.