Leonard Wells Volk Art

Leonard Wells Volk was a famous American sculptor. He made several large monumental sculptures, including the tomb of the politician Stephen A. Douglas, and statues of American Civil War figures. From 1855–57, Stephen A. Douglas, his wife's cousin, supported the family's travel to Rome so that Volk could pursue additional study. Returning to the United States in 1857, Volk and his family settled in the booming city of Chicago, where he helped to establish the Chicago Academy of Design in 1867 and served as its president until 1878. The Chicago Academy of Design was a precursor to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For eight years, he served as its director and taught numerous students, including Elbridge Ayer Burbank, who became noted for his more than 1200 portraits of Native Americans. In 1860, Volk made one of the only two life masks of the United States President, Abraham Lincoln after which, he went to posterity. In the early part of spring 1860, during Lincoln's visit to Chicago, Volk asked him to sit for a bust. He decided to start by doing a life mask to eliminate the need for several sittings. Lincoln found the process of letting wet plaster dry on his face, followed by a skin-stretching removal process, anything but agreeable. But he maintained good humor and was pleased with the final bust. He declared it the animal himself. Volk later used the life mask and bust of 1860 as the basis for other versions of Lincoln, including a full-size statue. The life mask was also studied by other artists, such as Daniel Chester French.