Hermon Atkins MacNeil has been written about in a variety of anthologies of American sculpture with brief, sometime quite serious essays, but never in a full book. Through the use of sound and thorough scholarship, Hermon Atkin MacNeil: American Sculptor in the Broad, Bright Daylight is the first comprehensive, straight-forward accounting of his life. He was born in 1866 and died in 1947. Producing more than 250 sculptural creations, he was one of the most accomplished and highly respected sculptors of his era, with a world-wide reputation for outstanding work. But to his neighbors in College Point, Queens, New York, where he lived and worked for forty-five years, what he did was equivalent to being an electrician or a school teacher, just a career, nothing special. The book delves into the details of his major and even not so major commissions, how each of his many works of art came into existence, and how they were seen through the eyes of his contemporaries, friends, writers, and critics who expressed opinions of his works within the context of the times in which they lived. Every day, in cities and towns across America, people pass by monuments, reliefs on buildings, or even glance at the face of a coin and never consider the human beings that brought them into existence, the discussions about the symbolism of the piece or even its placement. This book brings all of this to life, including details of the political and historical environment of the era, the accolades and the rejections. Included are endearing personal stories about this extraordinary artist’s family, friends and background. In addition to a parallel narrative detailing the creative life of his wife Carol Brooks MacNeil, much attention is paid to her fellow women sculptors and the challenges they faced. Including over 200 photographs and images, this is a book to be read and enjoyed by art lovers, especially those with an interest in sculpture, and to be available in the reference library of every art school, college and university, as well as each city or town where one or more of his works is on display.
