   jo davidson (march 30, 1883 &ndash; january 2, 1952) was an american sculptor. although he specialized in realistic, intense portrait busts, davidson did not require his subjects to formally pose for him; rather, he observed and spoke with them. he worked primarily with clay, while the final products were typically cast in terra-cotta, marble and bronze. ==life and career== born in new york city, of russian jewish descent, davidson worked in the atelier of hermon atkins macneil before moving to paris to study sculpture at the ecole des beaux-arts in 1907. after returning to the united states, he was befriended by gertrude vanderbilt whitney, who purchased some of davidson's work. in 1911 davidson secured his first solo gallery shows. he was one of a dozen sculptors invited by the oilman e. w. marland to compete in his competition for a pioneer woman statue in ponca city in 1927.,âexhibition of models for a monument to the pioneer woman, art institute of chicago, june 25 to august 1, 1927 which he failed to win. in 1934 davidson won the national academy of design's maynard prize, and in 1947 the american academy of arts and letters hosted a retrospective featuring nearly 200 of his works. in 1944, he was elected into the national academy of design as an associate academician. in the summer of 1949, he was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd sculpture international held at the philadelphia museum of art. among davidson's commissions are a design for a united states war industries badge, a collection of pieces for the government of france to commemorate the first victory of the troupes de marine, and bronze busts of the leaders of the first world war allies.davidson. jo, ââbetween sittings: an informal autobiography of jo davidsonââ, the dial press, ny 1951 p. 134 his portraits of world leaders and celebrated personalities gained him international acclaim. he did statues of e. w. marland and his two adoptive grown children. ==commissions==  *james barrie *nicholas murray butler *charlie chaplin *madame chiang kai-shek *joseph conrad *Ãmile couÃ© (who was also a sculptor in his spare time) *clarence darrow *[
1883_births 1952_deaths American_Jews American_alumni_of_the_Acole_des_Beaux-Arts American_people_of_Russian-Jewish_descent American_sculptors Artists_from_New_York_City New_York_Democrats