Mahonri Mackintosh Young (August 9, 1877 – November 2, 1957) was an American social-realist sculptor and artist. During his lengthy career, he created more than 320 sculptures, 590 oil paintings, 5,500 watercolors, 2,600 prints, and thousands of drawings. However, he is primarily recognized for his sculpture. His work includes landscapes, portraits, busts, life-size sculptures, monuments, and engravings. Regardless of his medium of choice, his work is characterized by spontaneity; he often preferred to prepare his work with quick sketches on the scene. He felt this made his work more natural as compared to using a model in the studio. He was fairly commercially successful during his life, though he did not find success until his mid-30s. Large commissions for sculptures from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) were particularly lucrative for him.
Born into a family of rich Mormon pioneer heritage, Young was the grandson of the second President of the LDS Church and first Governor of Utah, Brigham Young. Young was introduced to art by his father at an early age. He quit school at seventeen years old and worked engraving and portrait making jobs at various newspapers in Salt Lake City to make money for art lessons and for art school in New York and later, Paris. He lived most of his life in New York City where he became associated with "The Eight" and the Ashcan School. He ignited his commercial success in New York; however, arguably two of his most famous works, the This Is The Place Monument and the Seagull Monument are featured prominently in Salt Lake City, Utah. One of his other well-known works is a statue of Brigham Young which resides at the Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. At various times during his career, Young taught at the Art Students League. Most of Young's work resides at Brigham Young University.
Early years Mahonri Mackintosh Young was born on August 9, 1877, in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. He was the oldest child of Mahonri Moriancumer Young, owner of Deseret Woolen Mill which he had inherited from his father Brigham Young, and Agnes Mackintosh. Young enjoyed the time he spent living in rural Utah at the factory; he considered this his "golden age" in Utah. Young was given the name of his father, named after the character Mahonri Moriancumer from the Book of Mormon, widely known as the "Brother of Jared". Moriancumer was omitted due to its peculiarity and was, instead, replaced by Mackintosh, his mother's maiden name. His grandfather, Brigham Young, was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), governor of Utah territory in 1851, and director of the Mormon pioneers to Utah. Mahonri Mackintosh was likely the last grandchild born before the death of Brigham Young on August 29 and the last to receive a blessing from him.
Young's mother came from a polygamist marriage in the Midwestern United States. Though she did not meet her father, Daniel Mackintosh until she was older than one, he died when she was three years old and her mother raised her alone. Young's parents had attended the University of Deseret (now University of Utah) together. They married in October 1876 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. After their marriage, Agnes's mother Ellen moved into their home. Young's twin brothers, Winfield Scott (Winnie) and Waldemar (Wally) were born on July 1, 1880; they grew to be successful, a newspaperman and a screenwriter respectively. While ill with appendicitis, his father introduced Young to sculpture by carving objects for him out of wood. For his safety, his father gave him clay to model animals, sparking his interest in art at a young age. Young's father died when he was about seven years old. His father's death provided Young with the motivation to become a successful sculptor. His mother never remarried but was forced to sell the factory for less than half its worth due to financial concerns. Despite this, Agnes was able to provide for the living expenses of her family.
His family moved into a small house in Salt Lake City where Young began school. At eleven years old, his mother bought him a woodcarving kit from which he carved a four-inch bas relief of Julius Caesar from a fence post. After seeing the piece, a book salesman called him a "genius", leading his family to call him "the genius". Due to mediocre grades and always feeling behind his classmates, Young quit school after eighth grade. He spent time reading and studying about art, making friends with other young, aspiring artists. His childhood friends included John Held Jr. and Lee Greene Richards. He created his first sculpture when he was thirteen. At a young age, Young found formal education to be a waste of time. Young said that the only thing he learned that was of any value to him was that he should look at the point where a line would end rather than the point of the pencil. However, despite his disinterest in formal education, he read avidly with favorite authors being Ralph Waldo Emerson and Montaigne. Early influences from the Mormon families around him led him to be disinterested in maintaining LDS Church activity. Examples of these influences included abuse of the law of plural marriage and excessive piety among church members.
Young was athletic and participated in baseball and football teams. However, after an injury during a football game, he broke his left arm and after it was incorrectly reset and then rebroken to be properly set, his left arm remained slightly smaller than his right for the entirety of his life.; His early interest in athletics influenced the subject of his art, as he often sculpted and depicted athletes competing in various sports, the most prominent sport being boxing. He also developed his interest in nature and bird watching which further influenced themes and subjects of his art. His uncle introduced Young to ranch life, in which he became extremely interested. His mother was adamant that he pursue a different career. Although Young did not become a rancher, themes of ranching and the American West were frequent in his art. Young learned about the art style of Jean-François Millet from reading magazines, which taught him about form, space, light, and movement in art. An article about Millet convinced Young to quit school, get a job, and take art lessons. Determined to become a sculptor, Young realized that he had not sculpted since he was five years old, so he decided he may have better luck being an illustrator.
Salt Lake City and New York education
Rather than attend ninth grade, Young chose to pursue an artistic education under local artist James Taylor Harwood, John Hafen, and Edwin Evans. He had initially applied to the University of Utah, but his application was denied because he had not graduated high school. Instead, Young worked in a curio shop and a stationery shop to make money for lessons with Harwood. However, he was delayed in attending lessons due to a necessary appendectomy. Harwood was unimpressed by Young, believing that he was a lazy artist and did not work hard. Young's philosophy, however, was that there is no virtue in working hard, but rather thinking hard. Furthermore, Young liked to quickly sketch an observation which he would later turn into a drawing, but being a traditionalist, Harwood viewed this technique as cheating and an "artistic crime". Although Young had not yet sculpted in class, one day, Young and a classmate sculpted the mask of Laocoön with details from the David and Laughing Faun. Young was not trained in sculpture and had not sculpted since he was five years old. Despite his lack of experience, his instructors praised his sculptures and his natural talent. However, he would not sculpt again until he studied in Paris. Young saved money earned as a Salt Lake Tribune portrait artist, but took his subsequent demotion to an engraver as a blow to his ego.
Using the money he saved, he attended the Art Students League of New York between 1899 and 1901. In New York, Young was fascinated by the Industrial Revolution and decided that he would make art to reflect the themes of the Industrial Revolution. At the Art Students League, Young took classes with George Bridgeman and Kenyon Cox. He began using realist techniques; he would look at artistic models quickly and then attempt to draw his or her memorized features. Although Young disliked Bridgeman as an instructor, Young maintained a spot as second in the class. In contrast, Young greatly admired Cox as an instructor. During his time in New York, he suffered from insomnia, which he attempted to remedy by reading Shakespeare and magazines. Young lived on a tight budget and spent most of his time studying or attending art exhibits. After running out of money, Young had to return to Salt Lake City after eight months instead of his intended nine.
Paris education In Salt Lake City, Young worked for the Salt Lake Herald as an engraver and did some drawings for Deseret News. Even though he contracted the Spanish flu, Young became manager of the photoengraving shop for the Herald and saved enough money to travel to Paris, France, in 1901 to study at the Académie Julian. Young received extra money to study from his mother who had arranged for a settlement of a part of Brigham Young's estate as well as donations from family and members of the LDS Church.
He studied until 1905, where he studied with Jean-Paul Laurens and Jean-Antoine Injalbert. Unimpressed by the traditional styles taught in Paris, Young did not believe he learned anything at the Académie in France until 1903, when he was able to work more independently and develop his realistic style. He started studying painting and after achieving personal goals painting and after more artistic education from a trip to Italy, he returned to studying sculpture and etching in 1903. Young indicated that one must learn to be thick skinned in class to be able to withstand the criticism of both professors and other students. Most of his instruction in anatomy came from independent study of books. He found that he could not stomach anatomy classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, not because of cadavers, because he had not yet made it to that point in the lectures, but because of the overwhelming stench of un-showered students and sweat which gave him unbearable headaches.
Young's most important etching in Paris was The Forge Rue St. Jacque. It was exhibited in 1903, bringing public attention to Young's etchings. His first original sculptures, The Shoveler and The Man Tired were completed in 1903. Young did not agree with the use of models in his sculpting, because he believed it took away from the naturalness of the piece. For his sculptures, he found that sketches and observation over time made for more natural results and a better depiction of motion. He nervously sent Man Tired and The Shoveler to the American Art Association show in 1903 and achieved great success. His sculptures were featured in the Paris Herald in an article about the American Art Association show. His sculptures were sent to the New Salon in Paris for liberal art, were placed in the main gallery, and received critical acclaim. He spent all of his time looking at art in exhibitions or sketching on the street which garnered him criticism from his classmates for being lazy. Young, however, felt that he could learn more by observing rather than by working and studying in the studio.