Widener Gold Medal

The George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal was a prestigious sculpture prize awarded by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1913 to 1968. Established in 1912, it recognized the "most meritorious work of Sculpture modeled by an American citizen and shown in the Annual Exhibition." PAFA's annual exhibitions were open to all American sculptors, but an individual could be awarded the medal only once. Sculptors Paul Manship, Albin Polasek, Malvina Hoffman, Carl Paul Jennewein, Anna Hyatt Huntington, William Zorach and Leonard Baskin were among its recipients.

George Dunton Widener had been a Philadelphia businessman and a director of PAFA. He and his son Harry died in 1912 aboard the .

The Widener Gold Medal was retired in 1968. Beginning in 1969, PAFA devoted its annual exhibitions solely to work by students in its school.

List of Recipients YearSculptorImageWorkMediumCollectionNotes1913Charles GraflyHead of Thomas Pollock AnshutzThomas Anshutz, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.bronzePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts1914Paul ManshipDuck GirlbronzeRittenhouse Square, Philadelphia1915Albin PolasekAspirationAspiration, from SIRIS.Aspiration, from Albin Polacek Museum & Sculpture Garden.bronzeDetroit Institute of ArtsA seated female nude holding musical pipes and kissing a cherub.1916Edward McCartanThe Spirit of the WoodsSpirit of the Woods, from Christie's, 24 May 2007, Lot 8.bronze"Welwyn" (Harold Pratt estate),Glen Cove, Long Island, New YorkA nude female figure dancing with a baby.Another example is at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College.1917Attilio PiccirilliThe Flower of the AlpsmarbleA bronze version was auctioned at Sotheby's NY, October 2, 2015.Flower of the Alps, from Sotheby's, 2 October 2015, Lot 75.1918Albert LaesslePenguinsPenguins, from SIRIS.bronzePhiladelphia Zoo,West Fairmount Park, PhiladelphiaOther examples are at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Brookgreen Gardens,Robin R. Salmon, Sculpture of Brookgreen Gardens. and elsewhere.1919Jess M. Lawson(later Jess Lawson Peacey) Belgium, 1914First woman sculptor awarded the Widener Gold Medal.Also awarded the 1918 Barnett Prize from the National Academy of Design. 1920Malvina HoffmanThe OfferingThe Offering, from SIRIS.bronzeGlenbow Museum,Calgary, Alberta, Canada1921Evelyn Beatrice LongmanThe FutureThe Future, from SIRIS.The FuturebronzeNashville Parthenon,Centennial Park, Nashville, TennesseeA standing female nude.Also awarded the 1918 Shaw Prize from the National Academy of Design, and the 1919 French Gold Medal from the Art Institute of Chicago.1922Beatrice FentonA Sea-Weed FountainSeaweed Fountain, from SIRIS.bronzeHorticultural Hall,West Fairmount Park, PhiladelphiaAnother example is at Brookgreen Gardens.1923Brenda PutnamSea Horse SundialSea Horse Sundial, from SIRIS.Sea Horse Sundial is illustrated on p. 14: Ferargil Galleries, Sculpture for the Garden, exhibition catalogue (no date). from Frick Art Reference Library.bronzePrivate collection, Williamstown, MassachusettsAlso awarded the 1922 Barnett Prize from the National Academy of Design. 1924Arthur LeeVoluptéVolupte, from SIRIS.Volupté, from Metropolitan Museum of Art.VoluptuousnessmarbleMetropolitan Museum of ArtOther examples are at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, and in private collections.1925Walker HancockToivoToivo, from SIRIS.Toivo, from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.bronzeSt. Louis Art MuseumA bust of a Finnish youth.A bronze example is at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.1926Adolph Alexander WeinmanNarcissusNarcissus, from SIRIS.Narcissus, from Charleston Renaissance Gallery.bronzeNorton Museum of Art,West Palm Beach, FloridaA marble example is at Brookgreen Gardens.Narcissus, from SIRIS. 1927Katherine Lane WeemsNarcisse NoirNarcisse Noir, from SIRIS.Narcisse Noir, from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Black WhippetbronzeMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonOther examples are at the Reading Public Museum and the Museum of Science (Boston).1928Albert StewartSilver King Polar BearSilver King, from Metropolitan Museum of Art.silvered bronzeMetropolitan Museum of ArtAlso awarded the 1927 Speyer Prize from the National Academy of Design.1929Bruce MooreBlack PantherBlack Panther, from SIRIS.Black Panther, from Smithsonian American Art Museum.bronzeSmithsonian American Art MuseumOther examples are at the Whitney Museum, and elsewhere.1930Mitchell Fields Torso (Naomi}marbleWilfrid Israel Museum,Hazorea, Israel1931Gladys Edgerly BatesEve1932Carl Paul JenneweinIndian and EagleTours War Memorial, from SIRIS.Monument to the American Deadgilded bronzeplasterTours War Memorial,Tours, FranceThe sculpture is the centerpiece of a fountain.Jennewein's plaster model is at the Pérez Art Museum Miami.Model for Tours War Memorial, from SIRIS.Another bronze example is at Brookgreen Gardens.Indian and Eagle, from Brookgreen Collection.1933John GregoryLyric LoveLyric Love, from SIRIS.Lyric Love (scroll down for image), from Armstrong Browning Library, Baylor University.Monument for an Aviator's GraveCarrara marbleArmstrong Browning Library,Baylor University, Waco, Texas A winged female figure, partially nude.1934Concetta ScaravaglioneMother and ChildMother and Child, from SIRIS.plasterVirginia Museum of Fine Arts,Richmond, Virginia1935Heinz WarnekeWild BoarsmarbleSmithsonian American Art MuseumAnother marble example is unlocated.1936Vincent GlinskyThe AwakeningThe Awakening, from SIRIS."The Awakening," cover, National Sculpture Review, Spring 1968.marbleBrookgreen GardensA female nude reclining on a rock.1937Anna Hyatt Huntington Greyhounds PlayingGreyhounds Playing, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.bronzePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts1938Anthony de FrancisciGilda, the Artist's DaughterThe Artist's Daughter Gilda, from SIRIS.Gilda, the Artist's Daughter, from Smithsonian American Art Museum.plasterSmithsonian American Art MuseumBas relief head.1939Harry RosinEugenie Philadelphia Museum of ArtHead of a Tahitian model.1940Carl L. Schmitz(Model for) Foreign TradeForeign Trade, from SIRIS.Foreign Trade, from Smithsonian American Art Museum.painted plasterSmithsonian American Art MuseumForeign Trade is a limestone relief panel on the exterior of the Federal Trade Commission Building, Washington, D.C.Foreign Trade, from SIRIS.1941Dorothea GreenbaumTinyTiny, from SIRIS.bronzeInstitute for Advanced Study,Princeton, New JerseyA standing female nude.1942Janet de CouxDeborah's Song1943Henry KreisThe American Catholic Who's Who, Volume 7 By Georgina Pell Curtis, Benedict ElderThe Birth of a NationThe Birth of a Nation, from SIRIS. limestoneEllen Phillips Samuel Memorial Sculpture Garden,Fairmount Park, Kelly Drive, PhiladelphiaLocated along the east bank of the Schuylkill River.1944Cecil de Blaquiere HowardNational Sculpture Review, vol. 5, number 3, fall 1956, p.6.Page en the french Wikipedia : Cecil HowardAmerican Youth PlasterPrivate collectionCecil Howard posing in US Army uniform in his New York studio in 1944, before his departure for London with the OSS. He stands by his daughter Line's portrait bust and "American Youth," also entitled "The Sacrifice," his sculpture symbolyzing the American Army's entry into war.1945José de CreeftHead of RachmaninoffRachmaninoff, from SIRIS.Rachmaninoff, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.leadPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts1946Waldemar RaemischPietà1947Adolph DiodaCrucifix1948Herbert Lewis KammererHead and Shoulders with Bent Arms1949Mitzi Solomon(later Mitzi Cunliffe)A Voluptuous Objectpink marble1950Hugo RobusDawnDawn, from SIRIS.plasterFonderia Battaglia, Milan, Italy A life-size female nude yawning and stretching.Bronze examples are in private collections.1951Oronzio MaldarelliBianca, No. 2Bianca II, from SIRIS.bronzeMetropolitan Museum of ArtOther examples are at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.1952Jacques LipchitzPrometheus Strangling the VulturePrometheus Strangling the Vulture, from SIRIS.bronzePhiladelphia Museum of ArtPMA bought Lipchitz's plaster model, and commissioned him to cast it in bronze, 1953.Another example is at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. 1953Anthony LauckMonk at PrayerMonk at Prayer, from SIRIS.limestoneButler Institute of American Art,Youngstown, OhioRev. Lauck was a Roman Catholic priest and an art instructor at the University of Notre Dame.Anthony Lauck Papers, from University of Notre Dame.1954Koren Der HarootianDescent from the Cross1955Student exhibition1956Theodore RoszakHound of HeavenHound of Heaven, from SIRIS.Hound of Heaven from TheodoreRoszak.comsteel with nickel and copperMuseum of Modern Art, New York City1957Student exhibition1958Kahlil GibranVoice in the WildernessVoice in the Wilderness, from SIRIS.Voice in the Wilderness, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.welded ironPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts1959Student exhibition1960Lee BontecouBirdBird, from SIRIS.bronzeChase Manhattan Bank, New York City1961Student exhibition1962William ZorachPumaPuma, from SIRIS.plaster University Gallery, University of Delaware,Newark, DelawareOther examples in bronze and granite are at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia; National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and in private collections.1963Student exhibition1964Geraldine McCulloughGeraldine McCullough, 1917–2008PhoenixOther works include: Martin Luther King, Jr sculpture in Springfield, IL, Pathfinder in Oak Park, IL, and Our King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Chicago, IL1965Student exhibition1966Leonard BaskinSeated WomanSeated Woman, from SIRIS.Seated Woman, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.carved oakPennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts1967Student exhibition1968Seymour LiptonGatewayGateway, from SIRIS.nickel and monel metalNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

See also Temple Gold Medal Beck Gold Medal Mary Smith Prize

References