artist.shtml works john-severinus-conway

Artist Name

birth2/21/1852 in Dayton, OHPicture of Conway
death12/25/1925 in Tenafly, NJ
parents
education Art Institute of Chicago,
Ecole Julien,
Ecole des Beaux-Arts
awards

John Severinus Conway was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1852. His early art education was conducted at the Art Institute of Chicago before he moved to Paris, studying at the Ecole Julien and Ecole des Beaux-Arts. As well as becoming an accomplished sculptor, Conway studied painting.

After Paris, Conway moved spent time in both Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Italy. While in Italy, he met and married a woman named Agata Meloni, with whom he had four children. Conway's most famous work, the Victorious Charge, was completed while he was in Rome and sent to Milwaukee. Upon returning from Italy in 1902, the family settled in Tenafly, New Jersey. Tenafly became his professional center, and much of his work can still be found there. Conway died on Christmas day in 1925.

Sources mainly from Wikipedia and American Art Medals, 1909-1995 by David Thomason Alexander.



You can click on the medals to see the reverse.

  • Charles Dickens 1912
    by John Severinus Conway
    COF-6.1
    Light tan patina

    This medal was chosen as the sixth issue of the prestigious Circle of Friends if the Medallion series in 1912. The obverse bears large bust of Charles Dickens. Around, CHARLES DICKENS - NOVELIST (*); in right field, To A / BLITHE / SPIRIT / THE F OF / THE M.

    The medal's reverse bears Bob Crachit with stunted Tiny Tim on shoulder, holding crutch in right hand and spray of holly in left. In right field, GOD / BLESS / US / ALL EV'RY / ONE; signed in left field, CONWAY.

    1912 was the year of the Charles Dickens Centennial and saw a lot of Dickens medals issued. A very similar obverse appeared on the Charles Dickens Centenary medal by Henning Ryden.

    The medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Davison Company of Philadelphia. The mintage is not known.

    COF-6.1
    Bronze
    70.0mm (2.76in)
    Light tan patina
    CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
    DAVISON PHILA.

  • Victorious Charge Memorial

    The Victorious Charge (1898)

    John Conway's best-known statue is The Victorious Charge, still standing today in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the Court of Honor. Conway completed the statue in Rome in 1898, as the inscription on the back lower right reads, then had it shipped back to Milwaukee. The statue's design was revolutionary, as most war monuments previously constructed were more along the lines of portraiture of a single man or in the equestrian style. By contrast, The Victorious Charge depicts soldiers in action.

    The dedication reads:

    TO. THOSE. WHO. FOUGHT. IN. THE. WAR. FOR. THE. UNION. 1861-1865 ERECTED.1898.

    A larger version of this image is available here.

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