Avard Fairbanks
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (March 2, 1897 – January 1, 1987) was a 20th-century American sculptor. Over his eighty-year career, he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks. Fairbanks is known for his religious-themed commissions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) including the Three Witnesses, Tragedy of Winter Quarters, and several Angel Moroni sculptures on LDS temple spires. Additionally, Fairbanks sculpted over a dozen Abraham Lincoln-themed sculptures and busts among which the most well-known reside in the U.S. Supreme Court Building and Ford's Theatre Museum. From a young age, Fairbanks was a talented artist. At 13 years old, he attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship and his work was displayed at the National Academy of Design a year later. In 1913, he studied abroad in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts where he was the youngest student admitted to the French salons. He taught sculpture at several universities and attended medical school at the University of Michigan where he earned a doctorate in anatomical studies in order to better represent the human body in his art. Life Early life and education Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was born on March 2, 1897, in Provo, Utah. He was the last and eleventh child of the artist John Fairbanks and Lilly Annetta Huish. Fairbanks was introduced to art by his father and brother J. Leo Fairbanks. His first piece of art was a small, clay rabbit that won first prize in the 1909 Utah State Fair. However, after the judge learned of Fairbanks's young age, he revoked the prize. Fairbanks joined his father in New York City to copy art pieces at the Metropolitan Museum, where he was reluctantly received by the curators due to his inexperience. However, he showed great skill and was called a "young Michelangelo" by the New York Herald, which led to other commissions for Fairbanks such as animal models for the Bronx Zoological Gardens. There, he was instructed by Anna Hyatt Huntington and Charles R. Knight. He attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship at age 13, instructed by James Earle Fraser. By the age of 14, his art was displayed at the National Academy of Design. He promptly returned to Utah after 18 months studying in New York, to prepare to study art abroad. Fairbanks and his father tried to obtain as many commissions as possible to pay for his study abroad. Among these commissions was a lion he sculpted out of butter for the Utah State Fair, channeling the butter sculpture fable of Antonio Canova. This sculpture attracted a large audience and was well received. In 1913, Fairbanks studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, instructed by Jean Antoine Injalbert. Additionally, he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, the Académie Colarossi, and the École Moderne. He became the youngest student admitted to the French Salon; however, his studies were cut short due to World War I. Fairbanks