A screening of the documentary Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor and a preview of a film in progress, The Italian Factor, by filmmaker Eduardo Montes-Bradley. Of the millions of annual visitors to the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital, few know the name of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), who created its majestic statue of Abraham Lincoln seated. His remarkable life and work are the subject of the film Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor. A leading figure of the American Renaissance, a period of artistic and cultural flourishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, French designed over 200 monuments celebrating his era's American ideals and heroes. Filmmaker Montes-Bradley explores famous French works such as The Minute Man in Concord, Mass.; Brooklyn's Lafayette Memorial; The Four Continents on the façade of Manhattan's U.S. Custom House; and Boston's Milmore Memorial. The documentary also reveals the close collaboration between French and the Piccirilli brothers, a Bronx-based family of Italian sculptors who realized almost all of French's designs. The stone carvers used traditional techniques to transform artists' plaster or clay models into marble. Through archival footage, interviews, and stunning visuals, the film offers a fascinating portrait of a master artist. The Italian Factor, Montes-Bradley’s upcoming film on the Piccirillis, will focus on the relationship between Italian artists and the American Renaissance.
New York City, NY; NYC