Discover the Brains and Bronze of Syracuse University

Sculptures at Syracuse University

·         The Elemental Man, Malvina Hoffman

·         Lincoln, James Earle Fraser

·         Young Abe Lincoln on Horseback, Anna Hyatt Huntington

o   Use the Interavtive campus map below to locate and learn about the sculptures Syrucaue University has to offer. Click on the map to zoom in and out.

o   Click on the “x” to view photographs of each sculpture.

o   Click on the photographs for information on the sculpture.

James Earle Fraser (American, 1876-1953)

Lincoln, 1930

Bronze

Created by American artist James Earle Fraser, who is best known for designing the buffalo/Indian head nickel, the Lincoln sculpture is a duplicate of an original model done in 1930 that was placed in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Seated in a small courtyard between the university’s humanities and public affairs buildings, the sculpture is unlike other models of the late president. It depicts Lincoln in a melancholy state as he sits with his head held low, deep in thought. The artist, who is known for his uniquely assertive sculptures, attempted to capture Lincoln as a man characterized by apprehension and uncertainty.

The university acquired an extensive collection of Fraser’s materials after his death, which includes several sculpture casts, one of those being the Lincoln Mystic. The placement of the statue was part of efforts made in the 1960’s by the dean of the School of Art to incorporate art in public spaces on campus.

Malvina Hoffman- American Sculptor

The Elemental Man, 1936

Cast Bronze

Malvina Hoffman (1885-1966) was born in Manhattan, New York on June 15, 1885. Her interest in sculpture began at a young age when she attended the Arts Student League of New York and studied anatomy at the Cornell University College of Physicians. She was a student of famous French artist Auguste Rodin and Ivan Mestrovic, a sculpture professor and sculpture-in-residence at Syracuse University.

In 1930, she was commissioned by Stanley Field to create bronze figures depicting the people of the world for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The collection, called "The Races of Mankind," was displayed at the museum from 1933- 1968 and was featured in the Chicago’s World Fair of 1933. The collection, created over a period of five years, consists of 104 busts, heads, and life-sized figures modeled after sketches and photographs of people she encountered on her travels around the world and is the largest commission of sculpture even given to a female artist. The essence of strength and power that characterizes the famous collection is also reflected in this sculpture, The Elemental Man, through his tense musculature and struggling form.  Malvina Hoffman died while working in her New York City studio on July 19, 1966.

Anna Hyatt Huntington (American 1876- 1973)

Young Abe Lincoln on Horseback, 1963

Bronze, 13’ high

This statue was presented in 1974 to Syracuse University along with several other smaller sculptures, and many of the personal and business papers of the artist. The Huntington family had a long history of generosity to Syracuse University beginning in 1932 with a gift of the sculpture Diana of the Chase and 13,000 acres of Adirondack forest. The land was held in trust for the then New York State College of Forestry and is now known as the Archer and Anna Huntington Wildlife Forest Station.  

A smaller version of this statue was on view at the Illinois State pavilion of the New York World’s Fair of 1963. It was seen and admired by the Austrian Minister of Education who was impressed with Anna Hyatt Huntington’s vision of the young Lincoln. Lincoln is shown reading a book while riding on horseback to visit his clients in the towns and countryside around Springfield, Illinois. The artist presented the smaller version as a gift to the people of Austria and it now resides in a park near Salzburg.

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