Thursday, May 8, 2025

Hiram Powers

Hiram Powers
A Country Woman
1838
marble
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC


Hiram Powers
Fisher Boy
1843-44
plaster
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
Fisher Boy
1843-44
plaster
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
Proserpine
1844
marble
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Hiram Powers
The Greek Slave
1846
marble
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
The Greek Slave
after 1846
marble
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Hiram Powers
The Greek Slave
after 1846
marble
Denver Art Museum

Hiram Powers
Portrait of Anstiss Derby Rogers Wetmore
1848
marble
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
America
1848-50
plaster
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
Diana
1852
marble
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Longworth Powers (son of Hiram)
Portrait of sculptor Hiram Powers
ca. 1865
albumen print
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Longworth Powers (son of Hiram)
Portrait of sculptor Hiram Powers
after 1866
marble
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
Portrait of Emily Stevenson Davis Harris
1867
marble
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Hiram Powers
Clytie
ca. 1868
marble
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Hiram Powers
Portrait of Alice Key Pendleton
1870
marble
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Hiram Powers
Portrait of Longworth Powers (son of Hiram)
before 1873
marble
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia

Giacomo Brogi
Death Mask of sculptor Hiram Powers
ca. 1888
albumen print (cabinet card)
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

from The Friend of the Fourth Decade
 
When I returned with drinks and nuts my friend
Had moved to the window seat, back to the view.

The clear central pane around which ran
Smaller ones stained yellow, crimson, blue,

Framed our country's madly whipping flag,
Its white pole above roofs, the sea beyond.

That it was time for the flag to be lowered shed
Light on my friend's tactful disinvolvement –

Or did he feel as chastening somehow
Those angry little stripes upon his shoulders?

A huge red sun flowed positively through
Him in spots, glazing, obscuring his person

To that of Anyman with ears aglow,
On a black cushion, gazing inward, mute.



After dinner he said, "I'm tired of understanding
The light in people's eyes, the smells, the food.

(By the way, those veal birds were delicious.
They're out of Fannie Farmer? I thought so.)

– James Merrill (1969)