Horatio Stone was an American famous sculptor from New York.
Background
Horatio was bon on December 25, 1808 at Jackson, Washington County, New York, United States. He was the second child of Reuben and Nancy (Fairchild) Stone. When his father, who preferred work on the farm chores, failed to encourage his early interest in wood carving, the boy left home and did not communicate with his family until later years.
Education
He was stationed at the Patent Office General Hospital and at the Columbian College Hospital, both in Washington, at West's Buildings General Hospital, Baltimore, and at Fort Delaware, Del.
Career
Between 1841 and 1847 he practised as a physician in New York. Increasingly he turned to sculpture, however, especially after his removal in 1848 to Washington, where he had studios variously in the northwest section of the city, at the Navy Yard, and in the sub-basement of the Capitol building. During the Civil War, from September 21, 1862, until his honorable discharge September 20, 1865, he served as a contract surgeon with the Union forces. He was stationed at the Patent Office General Hospital and at the Columbian College Hospital, both in Washington, at West's Buildings General Hospital, Baltimore, and at Fort Delaware, Delaware.
In 1864 he published Freedom, a small volume of poems containing besides the title piece, "Eleutheria, " set to music by George Henry Curtis as a cantata, and "Day. " The style is sonorous, if not turgid, and the sentiment inevitably seeks the point when America is sung as the climax of creation's travail.
A year later there appeared his Inaugural Address and an Address on National Art. It was as a result of the work of the Washington Art Association that the art commission of 1859 was appointed by President James Buchanan, and that in 1860 the National Gallery of Art was incorporated.
His other works include busts of Hamilton and Jefferson, said to be copies of Jean Antoine Houdon's, a statue of Jefferson, and a bust and a statue of Thomas Hart Benton.
He is said to have made a pair of bronze doors in New York and, more plausibly, to have executed the stone for his mother's grave (in the Jackson cemetery), carved in Italy and showing the three Marys at the tomb. Exhibitions of his works were held at the National Academy of Design in New York City in 1849 and in 1869.
At least twice during his career he visited Italy, and it was at Carrara that he died.
Membership
He was a member of the Washington Art Association.
Personality
His personality is recalled as one of charm and versatility.