John Massey Rhind (1860 - 1936 )

John Massey Rhind, son of the Scottish sculptor John Rhind, was born in Edinburgh in 1860. The younger artist was one of the foremost American sculptors of his era, with public works located throughout the east coast of the United States. Rhind studied in France, and most of his works were created in the French Beaux-arts style. He died in 1936. (MWS)

Fountain of Apollo

Fountain of Apollo, 1900, Georgian Court College, Lakewood. Photograph © Walter Choroszewski (see link below).

Bartolommeo Colleoni, 1916, Clinton Park, Newark. Bronze statue 15 feet high, marble base 27 feet high. Photograph © Douglas Petersen.

Franklin Murphy, 1924, Weequahic Park, Newark. Photograph © Douglas Petersen.

Georgian Court College in Lakewood, New Jersey was originally the country estate of George Jay Gould (1864-1923). Rhind’s Fountain of Apollo was installed within the classical gardens, which were the focal point of the lavish estate. The fountain was conceived as a gift to Gould’s wife, Edith, for her birthday in 1902. Extensive preparation went into the completion of the fountain, including the erection of a full-scale model in plaster at the site. The marble work was carried out in Italy by the artist Pietro Faitini according to Rhind’s designs, while the bronze portions were cast by the John Williams, Inc., bronze foundry in New York City.

The Beaux-arts piece is magnificently dramatic and powerful in composition, with Rhind’s Apollo, the sun god, at the center commanding a team of winged sea horses to rise up out of the water and spread light across the skies. The horses are accompanied by several mermaids and by small cherubs who appear to guide the team, as well as by a host of fish and other sea life. When operational, the fountain sent up liquid jets as high as twenty-five feet from various discrete sources within the sculptural mass; the water was supplied by nearby Lake Carasaljo. The site was converted for use as a college after Gould’s death in 1923.

Rhind contributed several other public sculptures to the Garden State. These include “Bartolommeo Colleoni” and “Franklin Murphy,” both in Newark. (MWS)

References:

Meredith Arms Bzdak, Public Sculpture in New Jersey: Monuments to Collective Identity (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999). p.45.

Georgian Court College web site (see link below).