The Freedman

1863

John Quincy Adams Ward American, 1830-1910

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title The Freedman

Artwork Date 1863

Artist John Quincy Adams Ward

Life Dates 1830-1910

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Bronze

Dimensions Overall: 19 1/2 × 14 1/2 × 7 inches (49.5 × 36.8 × 17.8 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Gift of Mr. Ernest Kanzler

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 45.5

Markings

Signed Inscribed, on edge of base: J.Q A. Ward 1863

Provenance

by 1863-ca. 1890, James Mackay (Paris, France);
ca. 1890, Richard Solomon Waring (Paris, France and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA);
James Johnson Robinson and Anna Waring Robinson (Lakeville, Connecticut, USA);
Ernest Kanzler;
1945-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Modern Sculpture. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1950, pp. 8-9 (ill.).

Sharp, Lewis I. John Quincy Adams Ward: Dean of American Sculpture, with a Catalogue Raisonné. Newark, DE, 1985, pp. 153-156 (ill. of another casting).

Nelson, Charmaine. The Color of Stone: Sculpting the Black Female Subject in Nineteenth-century America. Minneapolis, 2007, pp. 127-128.

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