Man with a Pick

A grandson of the Mormon leader Brigham Young, Mahonri Young was born in Utah and in 1899 went to New York and Paris for his training. Best known as a sculptor, he also enjoyed success as a painter and printmaker. His subjects reflected the wide range of his experience: from the Native Americans, cowboys, and animals of the Southwest to the boxers and construction workers of New York and Paris. Modeled in 1915, "Man with a Pick" is one of Young's many sculptures depicting workingmen. Aesthetic considerations rather than social comment drove his choice of subjects. he delighted in the balance and poise of working people and in the rhythmic nature of their tasks. For the most part, American art patrons found these subjects uninteresting, although Young's series of boxers of the mid-to late 1920s found some buyers. During his Paris studies, Young assimilated the Beaux-Arts style, which is characterized by actively worked surfaces. the result can be seen here in the profusion of broken planes that reflect light and create a sense of movement.