Daniel Chester French was born in Exeter, New Hampshire on April 20, 1850. He was a prolific sculptor throughout his lifetime, receiving many commissions for public works, most notably The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.  which remains the most visited public memorial in America.

French spent his childhood in Cambridge and Amherst, Massachusetts prior to moving with his family to Concord in 1867. In the winter of 1868 French had his first formal art training with Abigail May Alcott, and in March of 1870 he headed to New York where he worked in the studio of John Quincy Adams Ward, while simultaneously taking evening drawing classes at The National Academy of Design. In the winters of 1871 and 1872 French studied with William Rimmer, and took drawing lessons with William Morris Hunt. After his extensive training, he received his first public sculpture commission from none other than Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wanted a monument for the centennial of the Battle of Concord. Prior to this, French had done a series of twenty-five decorative statuettes, which were reproduced into the thousands. In April 1875, The Minute Man was unveiled, but French could not be at the dedication ceremony for he was studying abroad in Florence, Italy with Thomas Ball at the time. In Italy, French was exposed to Classical and Renaissance sculpture, but it was not until his 1886 excursion to Paris that he discovered the works of Auguste Rodin whose realism and use of allegory had a heavy impact upon French. In the decade between his return from Florence and his voyage to Paris, French established three studios, one in D.C., one in Boston and another in Concord. At the time, his father was serving as Secretary of the Treasury, so French received numerous commissions for decorative sculptures for Federal buildings. He was also elected as a member of the Society of American Artists in May of 1879, and from this year until the mid-1920s he exhibited regularly at the National Academy of Design. In 1884 his sculpture of the founder of Harvard University, John Harvard was unveiled. A decade after his return from Paris, in 1897 French bought a home, “Chesterwood,” in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He split his time between there and New York for the rest of his life. The home is now a site of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is open seasonally for visitors. In addition to his monumental public sculptures, French was one of two key figures in developing The Met’s collection of American sculpture–the other was Augustus Saint-Gaudens. On May 18, 1903 French was elected a trustee of The Met. In 1911 French began his most well known work, and in 1922 The Lincoln Memorial was unveiled. Daniel Chester French died on October 7, 1931. He is celebrated today for his numerous memorial sculptures installed in many American cities. He has public works in Detroit, D.C. Boston, and New York, to name just a few.