Theodore Roosevelt (Primary Title)
James Earle Fraser, American, 1876 - 1953 (Artist)
Best known for his monuments to Native Americans, the Minnesota-born, South Dakota-raised Fraser began his artistic career producing architectural sculptures for Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. This image of America’s twenty-sixth president, paired with one of his well-known sayings, dates from the year that Fraser established his own New York studio. It strongly evokes his teacher Augustus Saint-Gaunden's celebrated approach to bas-relief portraiture. Fraser likely met Roosevelt through Saint-Gaudens, who, at the president’s request, was then designing the famed $20 “double eagle” gold coin, issued in 1907 by the U.S. Mint. Six years later, Fraser himself developed a reputation as a numismatist, producing the so-called Indian head, or buffalo, nickel.
bas-relief
Inscription at top right corner: - FRASER- /19020; Inscribed along bottom: 'AGRESSIVE FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT IS THE NOBLEST SPORT THE WORLD AFFORDS"
Gift of Karen Brandt Siler and Fritz Brandt in memory of their parents, Frederick and Carol Brandt
©artist or artist’s estate
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.