Joseph Mozier (August 22, 1812 – October 3, 1870) was an American sculptor active in Italy. He was born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1812. In 1831 he moved to New York City, where he worked as a merchant. He retired from business around 1845, and shortly afterward went to Europe, studying sculpture for several years in Florence, after which he moved to Rome.
His best-known work is Undine, the title character in the novella by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, a water nymph who falls in love with a man. He won a grand prize for it in Rome in 1867. He made a short visit to the United States in 1870, and was hospitalized upon his return in London, England. He died in Faido, Switzerland, while en route to his home in Italy."Obituary: Joseph Mozier." The Art Journal (London), January 1871.
Selected works Bust of Pocahontas (1848), Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Maryland. A replica at University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Bust of Diana (c. 1850), Locust Lawn Estate, New Paltz, New York. Pocahontas (1854), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.Pocahontas from Art Institute of Chicago. A replica at Lockwood–Mathews Mansion, Norwalk, Connecticut. Truth (1855), Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia.Truth from Flickr. Silence (1855), Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia.Silence from Flickr. Rebecca at the Well (1855), Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia. Replicas at New York Historical Society, New York City; Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana; Patterson Public Library, Paterson, New Jersey; and Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California.Rebecca at the Well from Flickr. The American Schoolboy (Young America) (1857), Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island. from Redwood Library. A replica at Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia. The Prodigal Son (c. 1857), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Indian Girl's Lament (1858), Cammie G. Henry Research Center, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, Louisiana. A replica at Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California. Queen Esther (c. 1858). The Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish (1862), Lockwood–Mathews Mansion, Norwalk, Connecticut.Wept of the Wish-ton-Wish from Lockwood-Mathews Mansion. Replicas at Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia; and Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York. Jephthah's Daughter (1865),Jephthah's Daughter from Christie's Auctions. Il Penseroso (1866), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.Il Penseroso from Smithsonian Institution. Undine (1867), Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine.Undine from Tumblr. Replicas at Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia; and Boll Theatre, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. The Peri (c. 1867), Acklen Mausoleum, Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee.The Peri from Flickr. Flower Girl (Springtime) (1867), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.Flower Girl from Smithsonian Institution. A replica at Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York. The Vigil of Rizpah (1869), Spanierman Gallery, New York City.The Vigil of Rizpah from Spanierman Gallery. The White Lady of Avenel (1869), Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia. Replicas at Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey; and University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Thomas Moore as a Boy (1870), Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York.
References
Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889. Madeleine B. Stern, "New England Artists in Italy 1835-1855", The New England Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Jun., 1941), pp. 243–271. "Joseph Mozier" from AskArt.
External links Art and the empire city: New York, 1825-1861, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Mozier (see index) Joseph Mozier from SIRIS.