1. Jerome Connor's father was a stonemason, which led to Connor's jobs in New York as a sign painter, stonecutter, bronze founder and machinist.
14 Facts About Jerome Connor
1. 2.
Jerome Connor joined the Roycroft arts community, in 1899, where he assisted with blacksmithing and later started creating terracotta busts and reliefs and eventually, he was recognized as Roycroft's sculptor-in-residence.
3.
Jerome Connor is reported to have dedicated the better part of a year on the monument's construction.
4.
Jerome Connor worked on the upper floor of an old barn, and one evening, as Roycrofters and visitors relaxed on the peristyle of the Roycroft Inn, a thunderous crash was heard from Jerome Connor's studio.
5.
The beams under the second floor had given way, and Jerome Connor's Marriage fell to pieces.
6.
In 1910, he established his own studio in Washington, DC From 1902 until his death, Jerome Connor produced scores of designs ranging from small portrait heads to relief panels to large civic commissions realized in bronze.
7.
Jerome Connor was a self-taught artist who was highly regarded in the United States, where most of his public works can be seen.
8.
Jerome Connor used the human figure to give expression to emotions, values and ideals.
9.
Jerome Connor was chosen since he focused on Irish Catholic themes, being one himself.
10.
Jerome Connor worked in the United States until 1925 and moved to Dublin, where he opened his own studio, but lack of financial support and patrons caused his work to slow.
11.
Jerome Connor died before the Lusitania memorial was completed and based on Jerome Connor's design its installation fell to another Irish artist.
12.
Jerome Connor died on 21 August 1943 of heart failure and reputedly in poverty.
13.
Jerome Connor sits in a corner of my memory With his short pipe, holding it by the bowl, And his sharp eye and his knotty fingers And his laughing soul Shining through the gaps of his crusty wall.
14.
In 1990 a Jerome Connor Trust was established in association with the National Gallery of Ireland to own eight of Connor's bronzes for inclusion in a projected gallery in Annascaul.