Self-Portrait 1908

The heroic scale of this larger-than-life-size statue of General John Blackburne Woodward (1835–1896), the first president (1888–96) of The Brooklyn Institute, the forerunner of the Brooklyn Museum, reflects the subject’s prestige as “the most useful citizen of Brooklyn.” After Woodward’s death, a committee commissioned this work from his friend Frederick MacMonnies, the prominent Brooklyn-born and Paris-trained sculptor who created the powerful figural groups on the exterior of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza. This imposing bronze statue of Woodward in modern dress, complete with his pince-nez spectacles, once stood outdoors, as well, facing Eastern Parkway and welcoming visitors to the Museum.