Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor (2025). Documentary film by Eduardo Montes-Bradley | 60 minutes

Name: Daniel Chester French
Director: Eduardo Montes-Bradley

Millions visit the Lincoln Memorial each year, yet relatively few know the sculptor responsible for the monumental figure at its center. Daniel Chester French explores the life and work of one of the defining artists of the American Renaissance, whose public sculpture helped shape the civic landscape of the United States.

Over the course of a career spanning more than half a century, French created more than two hundred monuments and memorials. The film follows his work through several of its most significant settings, including the Lafayette Memorial in Brooklyn; the allegorical figures of Brooklyn and Manhattan at the Brooklyn Museum; The Four Continents at the U.S. Custom House in New York; the Millmore Memorial in Boston; and the Melvin Memorial in Concord, Massachusetts.

The journey culminates at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where French’s seated Abraham Lincoln emerged from an extraordinary collaboration among sculptor Daniel Chester French, architect Henry Bacon, and the Piccirilli family of marble carvers. Through these works, the film considers not only French’s achievement as a sculptor, but the role monumental art played in constructing America’s public memory. HD | 60 minutes

Film Information

Director: Eduardo Montes-Bradley
Written by: Eduardo Montes-Bradley
Producer: Soledad Liendo | Heritage Film Project
Funded by: Documentary Film Fund
Runtime: 60 minutes | Year: 2022
Language: English | Country: United States

A film made possible with the support of the NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Executive Producers Donna HASSLER + Eduardo MONTES-BRADLEY

Made in collaboration with Richard Guy WILSON Michael RICHMAN Harold HOLZER

Thayer TOLLES Michele BOGART Adrian BENEPE William SHERMAN Eve KAHN

David DEARINGER Judith SHEA Daniel PRESTON

Significant support has come from THE MORRIS AND ALMA SCHAPIRO FUND

Written and Directed by Eduardo MONTES-BRADLEY

From The Journal

Daniel Chester French, The Piccirilli Factor, and George Bristow: An Unexpected Trilogy Across Art, Music, and Cultural History

How three documentaries — on Daniel Chester French, the Piccirilli Brothers, and George Frederick Bristow — became, almost by accident, a trilogy about the nineteenth-century American search for a cultural identity. A reflection on sculpture, music, authorship, and the long shadow of Massa-Carrara.

The Sculptor Who Gave America Its Face: Daniel Chester French's Extraordinary Legacy

This article is based on an analysis of the story shown on the documentary film "Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor," directed by the author and produced by Soledad Liendo with support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Reimagining Attilio Piccirilli: A New Face to an Enduring Legacy

For the first time, we can look into the eyes of Attilio Piccirilli—not through a blurred photograph or a worn-out newspaper clipping…

THE PAPERS
DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH

A monumental work by Dan Preston and Michael Richman, an effort that began in 1976 which culminates in a compilation of over 1,200 pages, including 1,260 documents, and a descriptive list of 360 sculptural works. Click on the image!