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Ad Code: 3
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from Auction House Records.
A Marble Figure of a Lady
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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Biography from AskART:
| From Westbrook Maine, Benjamin Akers was known for his portrait busts and medallions and most specifically for one work, "Dead Pearl Diver."
He received his early training in Boston from Joseph Carew, lived briefly in Portland, Maine, and then spent a year in Italy from 1852-53, the first of three trips to Europe. In 1855, he returned to Italy where he studied with Hiram Powers and was closely associated with the Anglo-American colony that included Robert and Elizabeth Browning and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Under these influences, he turned to idealized, neoclassical sculpture, most which have disappeared except for a few in collections in Portland, Maine.
He is known primarily for one work, "Dead Pearl Diver," an ideal youth drowned at sea. With elaborate carving of the fish net drapery, it brought him fame and success. Sadly his deteriorating health led to a short life, and he died at age 36 in Philadelphia. Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, "The Marble Faun," is partly based on Akers as the main character, Kenyon, the sculptor of a dead pearl diver.
Source:
Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"
Groce and Wallace, "Dictionary of Artists in America"
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Note from an anonymous Source:
This sculptor was my great-grandfather's brother. Your bio states that most
of his sculpture has disappeared, but I am pleased to inform you that I viewed five busts and one full figure last week at Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island. The five busts were of classical figures and the full figure was "The Dying Gaul." I have seen "The Dead Pearl Diver" and agree that it is his best work.
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