Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

The Cyrus Dallin Art Museum (CDAM) in Arlington, Massachusetts, United States is dedicated to displaying the sculpture and painting of the work of American sculptor, educator, and Indigenous rights activist Cyrus Dallin[2] who lived and worked in Arlington for over forty years. He is best known for his iconic Appeal to the Great Spirit and Paul Revere Monument in Boston.

Cyrus Dallin Art Museum in the Jefferson Cutter House
Jefferson Cutter House in 2019
Location611 Massachusetts Avenue,
Arlington, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°24′55″N 71°9′12″W
Built1830
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Federal
MPSArlington MRA
NRHP reference No.85001028[1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 23, 1992
Cyrus Edwin Dallin
Dallin c. 1912
Notable work

Appeal to the Great Spirit (1908)
Equestrian statue of Paul Revere (1940)
Angel Moroni (1893)

Museum

The museum exhibits over ninety artworks spanning Cyrus Dallin's sixty-year career. These include portrayals of Indigenous peoples and Anglo-European historical figures; portraits of family members and friends; casts and prototypes of public monuments and memorials; and coins, medals, and paintings. The Museum's comprehensive exhibits ground Dallin's unique body of work within the context of his commitment to artistic expression, education, and Indigenous rights.

The Cyrus Dallin Art Museum is located in the heart of Arlington Center. It is also the only institution in the country solely dedicated to preserving and interpreting the work of this important late 19th - early 20th-century sculptor.

Building

The Cyrus Dallin Art Museum is located in the Jefferson Cutter House, a historic house on the National Register of Historic Places located in the center of Arlington, Massachusetts. The building is owned by the town, and also serves as the location of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and the Cutter Gallery, an organization that exhibits the work of local artists.

Built in 1830 in a Greek Revival/Federal period style in a saltbox design, the building was home to the family of Jefferson Cutter, who was born in Arlington (then part of West Cambridge) in 1803. Of particular importance is the elaborately carved main entry door, likely the work of Jefferson Cutter himself, who was a turner and millwright.

History

Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944)
Main article: Cyrus Dallin

Cyrus Edwin Dallin was born on November 22, 1861 in Springville, Utah.[3] His sculpting and artistic talent was recognized at an early age, and he was sent to Boston at 19 to study with T.H. Bartlett. Today he is regarded as one of the most important sculptors in American art.[4]

Dallin found the road to success rocky. But his perseverance and dedication are revealed in his efforts to complete whatever he started. A telling testament to Dallin's tenacity is his 58-year trial to get an equestrian statue of Paul Revere funded and fabricated. After seven versions, Dallin's statue was erected in 1940 in Boston's historic North End.[3]

In 1891, Dallin married the writer, Vittoria Colonna Murray. The couple raised three sons.[3] During this time, Dallin actively pursued commissions, exhibited, and won many prizes. Stable income to support his family came from teaching appointments, chiefly at the Massachusetts Normal Art School (Massachusetts College of Art and Design), from 1900 to 1941.[4]

Dallin gained the respect of other famous artists of his day, including Augustus St. Gaudens and John Singer Sargent, who became a close friend. (Sargent's sketch of Dallin's Portico is a treasured item in the Museum's collection.)[5] Dallin's art was reproduced and collected on a broad scale. Among his most beloved works are his monuments of Native Americans, which changed the face of public art in America.

In 1900, at the age of 39, Dallin moved to Arlington, Massachusetts, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. As a result, Arlington is now the home for many of his works. Dallin died at his own home on November 14, 1944, a week shy of his 83rd birthday.[4]

The museum

The museum is a joint venture of the Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum, Inc. (an independent nonprofit organization) and the Town of Arlington. In the 1982, the Arlington Arts Council received a $720 grant from the State Lottery. The funds were applied to a historic marker for the Robbins Memorial Flagstaff that includes five sculptures by Cyrus Dallin.[6]

Robbins Memorial Flagstaff with sculptures by Cyrus Dallin is located near to the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum.

In 1984, Growing awareness of Dallin fostered to the formation of a committee to canvas the town buildings to find and catalog Dallin's works throughout the town. That project led to the discovery of twenty-four works, many of which were in need of care.[6] In 1985, following the recommendation of the committee, Arlington Town Meeting established the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. The stated mission of the museum was to collect, preserve, and exhibit the work of Cyrus Dallin. The following year the Board of Selectmen appointed a volunteer board of trustees to operate the museum. A fundraising effort begun in 1988 raised $35,000 toward a restoration program. [6]The collection did not have a home until 1998, when the town acquired the historic Jefferson Cutter House and made the property available for use as the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. In October 1998, founders James McGough, Geri Tremblay, David Formanex, Richard Bowler, Ann Bowler and others celebrated the opening of the Museum's first two exhibition galleries in the Jefferson Cutter house.[7] In 2000, the nonprofit Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum, Inc. was established to serve as the fundraising and fiduciary arm of the museum. Two additional galleries were added in 2001 and in 2004. Since that time the collection has grown to over 90 works including sculptures in the round, reliefs, medals and paintings.[5]

Permanent collection

The Cyrus Dallin Museum hosts over 90 works by Cyrus Dallin including plaster and bronze sculptures and paintings. The museum also provides a self-guided walking tour to other local sculptures including Dallin works.

  • Sacajawea Sculpture at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
  • Paul Revere Sculpture at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
  • Appeal to the Great Spirit Sculpture at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
  • John Trowbridge Bronze Relief at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
  • Auverse-ser-Oise painting at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
  • Lethe Sculpture at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum
  • Menotomy Hunter sculpture in Nearby Robbins Park
  • Appeal to the Great Spirit

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. Burns, Emily (Spring 2018). "Political Contestation in Cyrus Dallin's American Indian Monuments". Archives of American Art Journal. 57 number1: 4–21 – via University of Chicago Press Journals.
  3. Knapp, Alma (1948). The History of Cyrus Edward Dallin Eminent Utah Sculptor. University of Utah: Thesis Submitted to the University of Utah Department of Sculpture. pp. 15, 59–60.
  4. "Cyrus Dallin: American Sculptor". HarvardSquareLibrary.Org. November 14, 1944. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  5. "Cyrus Dallin Art Museum Website". The Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  6. Sugarman, Jay (26 October 2020). "Museum Open House- Cyrus Dallin Art Museum". Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  7. "In photos: The Cyrus E. Dallin Museum". Arlington Wicked Local. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
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