This article explores the career of American sculptor Leo Friedlander (1888–1966), with particular attention to his classical orientation and the decisive role played by his Italian experience in shaping his artistic language. Based on extensive archival research, including previously unpublished material, the study reconstructs Friedlander’s formative years, beginning with his early education at the Art Students League in New York and his apprenticeship at the Klee Brothers workshop (1902–1908), where he acquired crucial technical skills and a solid professional foundation. Between 1908 and 1912, Friedlander continued his training in Europe, attending the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later in Brussels. These years strengthened his knowledge of anatomy, proportion, and classical form, and familiarised him with competitive academic environments. His first significant public commission—the sculptural decoration for the Memorial Arch at Valley Forge—reveals a direct translation of the classical idiom, notably inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome. The core of the article focuses on the years 1913–1916, when Friedlander was awarded the Rome Prize and spent three formative years at the American Academy in Rome. There, he studied classical and Renaissance art firsthand, participated in the Academy’s interdisciplinary life, and developed close ties with fellow sculptors and architects. This period saw the production of works such as the Bacchante and Female Warrior, both demonstrating a decisive shift toward a monumental, volumetric classicism rooted in antiquity. Upon returning to the United States in 1917, Friedlander’s work was increasingly marked by the values absorbed in Rome: stability, order, and public function. These ideals culminated in major commissions such as the colossal groups Valor and Sacrifice for the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., completed in 1949 and cast in Italy as part of a post-war diplomatic gesture. The article traces not only the artistic trajectory of these works but also the technical and bureaucratic challenges surrounding their execution. In its final section, the article places Friedlander among a “lost generation” of American sculptors—including Weinman, Fraser, Lawrie, Jennewein, and Ellerhusen—whose Beaux-Arts and Art Deco sensibilities, once dominant, were later marginalised by post-war modernism. Revisiting Friedlander’s career thus opens a broader critical reappraisal of an entire transatlantic generation of artists who shaped public art in the interwar United States and whose legacy merits renewed scholarly attention.
Il saggio esplora la figura dello scultore americano Leo Friedlander (1888–1966), ponendo l’accento sulle sue radici classiciste e sul ruolo cruciale della formazione italiana nella definizione della sua poetica. Attraverso un’ampia indagine d’archivio inedita, l’autore ricostruisce i percorsi formativi di Friedlander, iniziati all’Art Students League di New York e proseguiti con l’apprendistato dai Klee Brothers (1902–1908), dove acquisì conoscenze materiali e professionalità tecniche fondamentali. Segue, tra 1908 e 1912, un’esperienza formativa in Europa: prima all’École des Beaux-Arts di Parigi, poi a Bruxelles, dove consolidò le competenze classiche, l’anatomia e le proporzioni, entrando in contatto con gli esami selettivi, l’atelier competition e l’opera pubblica monumentale (e.g., l’analisi dell’influenza dell’Arco di Tito sull’architettura simbolica a Valley Forge). Il cuore dell’articolo è dedicato al soggiorno romano tra il 1913 e il 1916, dove Friedlander, vincitore del Rome Prize dell’American Academy, visse immerso nel panorama artistico romano: studiando direttamente l’antico e il Rinascimento, partecipando alla vita interdisciplinare dell’Accademia, interagendo con colleghi scultori e architetti statunitensi, e producendo opere come la “Baccante” e la “Guerriera/Valore” in terracotta, poi tradotte in bronzo. Questa esperienza, secondo l’autore, segna una svolta decisiva nel linguaggio artistico di Friedlander: la sua adesione a un classicismo monumentale, solido e volumetrico, incarna valori di civiltà, stabilità e una scultura di carattere pubblico, che ritroverà nelle commissioni successive. Al suo ritorno negli Stati Uniti (1917–1930), Friedlander si afferma grazie alla rete dell’American Academy e alla collaborazione con Paul Manship, ottenendo incarichi di rilievo come le quattro sculture (Valore, Sacrificio) per l’Arlington Memorial Bridge (inaugurate nel 1949, fuse in bronzo in Italia). L’articolo analizza anche le difficoltà e le controversie legate alla realizzazione, alla lavorazione italiana delle sculture e al successivo declino critico e di fortuna dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale. L’autore colloca Friedlander all’interno di una “generazione perduta” di scultori americani – Weinman, Fraser, Lawrie, Jennewein, Ellerhusen – che incarnarono un classicismo burocratico del Beaux-Arts e dell’Art Deco, suscitando riflessioni sull’arte pubblica e nazionale in epoca tra guerre. La rivalutazione critica di Friedlander diventa, così, l’occasione per aprire uno scenario storiografico nuovo, più inclusivo e transnazionale.
Lo scultore americano Leo Friedlander (1888-1966): le multiple connessioni tra Roma e gli Stati Uniti di un classicista conservatore
Paolo Coen
In corso di stampa
Abstract
This article explores the career of American sculptor Leo Friedlander (1888–1966), with particular attention to his classical orientation and the decisive role played by his Italian experience in shaping his artistic language. Based on extensive archival research, including previously unpublished material, the study reconstructs Friedlander’s formative years, beginning with his early education at the Art Students League in New York and his apprenticeship at the Klee Brothers workshop (1902–1908), where he acquired crucial technical skills and a solid professional foundation. Between 1908 and 1912, Friedlander continued his training in Europe, attending the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later in Brussels. These years strengthened his knowledge of anatomy, proportion, and classical form, and familiarised him with competitive academic environments. His first significant public commission—the sculptural decoration for the Memorial Arch at Valley Forge—reveals a direct translation of the classical idiom, notably inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome. The core of the article focuses on the years 1913–1916, when Friedlander was awarded the Rome Prize and spent three formative years at the American Academy in Rome. There, he studied classical and Renaissance art firsthand, participated in the Academy’s interdisciplinary life, and developed close ties with fellow sculptors and architects. This period saw the production of works such as the Bacchante and Female Warrior, both demonstrating a decisive shift toward a monumental, volumetric classicism rooted in antiquity. Upon returning to the United States in 1917, Friedlander’s work was increasingly marked by the values absorbed in Rome: stability, order, and public function. These ideals culminated in major commissions such as the colossal groups Valor and Sacrifice for the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., completed in 1949 and cast in Italy as part of a post-war diplomatic gesture. The article traces not only the artistic trajectory of these works but also the technical and bureaucratic challenges surrounding their execution. In its final section, the article places Friedlander among a “lost generation” of American sculptors—including Weinman, Fraser, Lawrie, Jennewein, and Ellerhusen—whose Beaux-Arts and Art Deco sensibilities, once dominant, were later marginalised by post-war modernism. Revisiting Friedlander’s career thus opens a broader critical reappraisal of an entire transatlantic generation of artists who shaped public art in the interwar United States and whose legacy merits renewed scholarly attention.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
