James Fraser

James Earle Fraser was the husband of Laura Gardin Fraser, with both active mainly as coin designers in the USA. In 1913, James Earle created the famous Indian Head motif that was on the US nickel until 1938 and was later used on the gold ounce. His most famous statue was the End of Trail, done in 1915. One of his major works were the two heroic bronze equestrian statues titled The Arts of Peace, designed for the entrance to the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, just behind the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, DC.

From 1891 Fraser was a sculptor’s student and attended courses at the Art Institute in Chicago. Five years later, he studied at the Académie Colarossi and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. After returning to the USA, he opened a studio in New York and taught at the Art Students League. Fraser was one of the founders of the American Association of American Painters and Sculptors and president of the National Sculpture Society.

Fraser became one of the most prominent American sculptors of the first half of the 20th century. One source of inspiration was his experience of the “Wild West” and the indigenous people in his youth. The 48 x 29 cm bronze plaque with the portrait of Henry Schoellkopf was created in 1916. It is located on the east wall of the Schoellkopf House at Cornell University. Henry Schoellkopf (1879-1912) came from an industrialists’ family of German descent. He was an American football player at Harvard and coach at Cornell. He later worked as a lawyer but committed suicide aged only 32.