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Henry Kirke Browne

Henry Kirke Browne
Henry Kirke Browne

Early Life

Henry Kirke Browne was born on 24 February 1814 in Leyden, Massachusetts. He began painting portraits at an early age and later was trained in the painting by Chester Harding. He also learned to model and was working as a railroad engineer in summers to support his education.

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Angel of the resurrection statue in 1850, Allegheny Cemetery Pittsburgh, PA

From 1842 to 1846 he was in Italy, but his works never showed any influence or dominance of Italy as it was for the many earlier American sculptors. His works beautifully combine American subject matter with Italian style.

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Equestrian George Washington 1856, Union Square Park, New York City

The career of Henry Kirke Browne

In 1849 he produced “The Choosing of the Arrow”, for the American Art Union. His equestrian statues are exceptional and in 1856 he made a remarkable statue of Sir George Washington in Union Square, New York City and was the second equestrian statue made in the United States.

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The Choosing of the Arrow, 1848, Bronze

Browne was one of the first Americans to cast his own bronzes in the following years that of Andrew Jackson in Washington DC by Clarke Mills (1815-1883), and of Brevet Lt.General Winfield Scott (1874) in Washing DC. Browne was elected as an associate member of the National Academy of design in the year 1847 and became a full member in 1851.

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Major General Nathanael Greene
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General Winfield Scott at Scott Circle 1874 , Massachusetts Washington DC
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Abraham Lincoln 1870, Union Square New York City

Famous Art Works

His other extraordinary works include statue of Abraham Lincoln in Union Square New York, Nathanael Greene, Philip Kearny, George Clinton and Richard Stockton all in the National Statuary Hall, United States Capitol, Washington. Dewitt Clinton in Greenwood Cemetery Brooklyn New York as an ‘Aboriginal Hunter’.

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General Philip Kearny, Newark New Jersey

In 1855 Dewitt Clinton was temporarily exhibited in City Hall Park and was the first American full-length sculpture cast in a single piece. Browne died on 10 July 1886 in Newburgh New York.