Pan of Rohallion, Frederick William MacMonnies

Archive Label date unknown: When MacMonnies was sixteen, he began an apprenticeship in the studio of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens in New York City. He also studied sculpture at the Art Students League and in 1884, with the encouragement of Saint-Gaudens, moved to Paris to attend the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1889 MacMonnies opened his own Paris studio, where he produced his most famous works. He remained a popular artist until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1915 he returned to New York and dedicated the rest of his life to painting. Pan of Rohallion is a small copy of a life-size figure commissioned by Edward Adams as a fountain sculpture for Adam's home, Rohallion, in New Jersey. It is the first of many fountain pieces MacMonnies completed. Pan, a Greek god of the forests and shepherds, wears a goat headdress and fur draped across his shoulders. Here he stands upon an orb surrounded by fish and playing pipes, also a symbol of Pan.