Paul Wayland Bartlett
Paul Wayland Bartlett (January 24, 1865 – September 20, 1925) was an American sculptor working in the Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism.
Also recorded as Paul W. Bartlett
Paul Wayland Bartlett

Unknown author Unknown author or not provided · U.S. National Archives and Records Administration · Public domain
- Born
- January 24, 1865
- Birthplace
- New Haven, Connecticut, US
- Died
- September 20, 1925
- Occupation
- Sculptor
- Known for
- Apotheosis of Democracy
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- art of sculpture
- Honours
- Knight of the Legion of Honour · Officer of the Legion of Honour · Commander of the Legion of Honour
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Paul Wayland Bartlett (January 24, 1865 – September 20, 1925) was an American sculptor working in the Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism.
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Paul Wayland Bartlett (1865–1925) was an American sculptor. Born in New Haven, the sculptor died in Paris.
Paul Wayland Bartlett was a member of Académie des beaux-arts and American Academy of Arts and Letters and worked in Paris. The sculptor was active in art of sculpture.
Works include Apotheosis of Democracy, equestrian statue of La Fayette and Robert Morris. Languages used include English. Works by Paul Wayland Bartlett are held at Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris, among others. The sculptor received Commander of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Legion of Honour and Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q3398515 · wikipedia · Paul Wayland Bartlett
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is art of sculpture. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris. Works named in the authority record are equestrian statue of La Fayette, Apotheosis of Democracy and Robert Morris. Work by Paul Wayland Bartlett is recorded in the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University Art Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Distinctions recorded are Knight of the Legion of Honour, Officer of the Legion of Honour and Commander of the Legion of Honour.

BARTLETT, PAUL, MRS. AND ANOTHER Abstract/medium: 1 negative: glass; 8 x 10 in. or smaller
Harris Ewing, photographer · Library of Congress Catalog: https: Image download: https: Original url

BARTLETT, PAUL WAYLAND. SCULPTOR Abstract/medium: 1 negative: glass; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
Harris Ewing, photographer · Library of Congress Catalog: https: Image download: https: Original url
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — January 24, 1865 • Birthplace — New Haven, Connecticut, US • Died — September 20, 1925 • Occupation — Sculptor • Known for — Apotheosis of Democracy • Style — Beaux-Arts architecture • Father — Truman Howe Bartlett
Biography
Biography
• Illustration — Paul Wayland Barlett c. 1890 by Charles Sprague Pearce. Bartlett was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Truman Howe Bartlett, an art critic and sculptor. At fifteen, he began to study in Paris under Emmanuel Frémiet, modelling from animals in the Jardin des Plantes. He won a medal at the Paris Salon of 1887, and was elected as a member of the jury for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889 and again at the Exposition of 1900, each time sacrificing his own opportunities of receiving medals. He was 29 when the Cross of a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor was bestowed upon him. In 1903, he collaborated with the dean of American sculptors, John Quincy Adams Ward, on the models for the pediment sculptures of the New York Stock Exchange; the pediment figures were carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. Bartlett's masterwork was the House of Representatives pediment at the U.S. Capitol building, The Apotheosis of Democracy, begun in 1908 and completed in 1916. Among his other principal works are Bohemian Bear Tamer, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the equestrian statue of Lafayette, in the Cours Albert 1er, Paris, presented to the French Republic by the schoolchildren of America; the powerful and virile bronzes Columbus and Michelangelo inside the Library of Congress; the Ghost Dancer, in the Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia; the Dying Lion; the equestrian statue of McClellan in Philadelphia; and a statue of Joseph Warren in Boston, Massachusetts. His bronze patinas of reptiles, insects and fish, several of which are in the collection of the Berkshire Museum, are also remarkable. In 1895, he was named a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. In 1916, he was admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was also a member of the National Sculpture Society and the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. In the mid-20th century, Bartlett's step-daughter, Caroline Ogden-Jones Peter, worked to ensure that examples of Bartlett's sculpture were distributed to museums throughout the United States. Additional examples of his sculpture, including many plaster studies as well as his personal papers are found at Tudor Place, Caroline's former home with husband, Armistead Peter 3rd; a historic house museum open to the public since 1988.
Works
Works
• Illustration — Joseph Warren, Roxbury, Massachusetts • Illustration — Sir William Blackstone in Washington, D.C. • Illustration — Robert Morris in Philadelphia • Illustration — Statue of Lafayette in Hartford, Connecticut (1957) • Illustration — House of Representatives pediment, Apotheosis of Democracy, Washington D.C., completed 1916
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Origins and background
Origins and background
The following is established of origins and background. Born in 1865 at New Haven. It is also recorded that paul Wayland Bartlett died in 1925 at Paris.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
New Haven.
Birth place
Paris.
Death place
Collections and holdings
Where the work is held
Collections and holdings
Institutional holdings are recorded as follows.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3398515: Paul Wayland Bartlett
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Paul Wayland Bartlett”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Paul Wayland Bartlett. Smithsonian American Art Museum.
- 2.Thomas P. Somma. The Apotheosis of Democracy, 1908-1916: the pediment for the House of Representatives, 1995.
- 3.Illustration.
- 4.Bartlett's contribution is discussed in John Young Cole, Henry Hope Reed and Herbert Small, The Library of Congress: the art and architecture of the Thomas Jefferson Building (Washington, DC), 1997.
- 5.Carol P. Adil, Henry A. DePhillips, Paul Wayland Bartlett and the art of patination (Paul Wayland Bartlett Society), 1991.
- 6."Two New Members for the Academy; Dr. Barrett Wendell and Garl Melchers, the Painter, Honored at Meeting" New York Times. November 16, 1916.
- 7.Glasgow University. The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951.
- 8.The Washington Post, December 11, 1983
References
Citations
References
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Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3398515: Paul Wayland BartlettWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Died at
1- ParisPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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