Walker Hancock

Sculptor

Birthday June 28, 1901

Birth Sign Cancer

Birthplace Missouri

DEATH DATE Dec 30, 1998 (97)

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About

Remembered for large-scale sculptures such as Christ in Majesty (at the Washington, D.C. National Cathedral) and the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial (at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station), this twentieth-century artist was a 1989 recipient of the National Medal of Arts.

Before Fame

After briefly attending Washington University in St. Louis, he studied at both the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the American Academy in Rome.

Trivia

During the World War II years, he traveled to Europe as a member of the United States Army's Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program and recovered artwork that had been stolen or damaged by the Nazis.

Family Life

He was married to Saima Natti Hancock for four decades. He died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, at the age of ninety-seven.

Associated With

As the winner of a design competition announced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hancock became the artist in charge of crafting a military decoration known as the Air Medal.