George Grey Barnard

1863-1938

George Grey Barnard was a sculptor hailed as the Michelangelo of his time. Although he was born in Bellefonte, PA, his family moved to the Midwest when he was 3 years old. From boyhood, he was interested in creating form with his hands. He worked as a taxidermist and an engraver before entering the Chicago Art Institute at age 19. It was at this time Barnard first encountered the works of the Renaissance master Michelangelo, who henceforth became his idol and source of emulation.

Within a year at the Art Institute, Barnard had sold a portrait bust of a child for $300, which gave him enough funding to set off for Paris to advance his artistic training. Like most artists of his generation, Barnard studied for four years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the Academic tradition of art. At the Ecole, he lived as a recluse totally obsessed with his sculpting and impoverished conditions, a further analogy to his Renaissance counterpart.

Barnard's first patron was Alfred Corning Clark of Singer Manufacturing Company fortune. Clark commissioned several monumental sculptures from Barnard, including the famous The Two Natures of Man, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After the death of his patron in 1896, Barnard suffered financial difficulties. His career was revived in 1902 with the commission for the sculptural groups at the Pennsylvania Capitol. Immediately, Barnard set about sketching the sculptural groups in clay. The Capitol groups represent a significant component to Barnard's artistic evolution. He later said "in that plan I had concentrated a life of study and thought." As soon as the iconographic program and general design for the Capitol sculpture were worked out, Barnard set off for France to begin the 27 eight-foot high final figures.

Barnard acquired a love of art from the Middle Ages during his years in France and spent much of his spare time buying and searching for medieval antiques. Barnard was able to help pay for supplies he needed to complete the Capitol sculptures by collecting antiques and selling them to wealthy patrons in the states. Over the years, Barnard acquired several vast collections of Gothic and Romanesque antiques dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Barnard built "The Cloisters" for his major collection, which was later purchased by John D. Rockefeller and donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Capitol groups were finished in 1910 and were exhibited at the Paris Spring Salon in front of the Grand Palais, where they were received with great enthusiasm. The famous sculptor Aguste Rodin praised Barnard's "Giants." The two huge sculptural groups were shipped to Harrisburg and installed on the façade of the Capitol during 1910-1911. A grand celebration was organized for the official unveiling. With great fanfare October 4, 1911 was designated as "Barnard Day." A chorus of school children sang, "The Barnard Groups," the band played "The Barnard March," and orators praised the sculptor during the dedication of these magnificent marble works. At his request, George Grey Barnard was buried in Harrisburg to be near to what he considered his finest work.