Frederick Keep Monument, (sculpture).

Frederick Keep Monument, (sculpture).

Fraser, James Earle, 1876-1953, sculptor.

Kunst Foundry, founder.

Frederick Keep Monument, (sculpture).

Installed 1920.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: Stoney Creek granite.

Sculpture: approx. 8 ft. x 5 in. 3 ft. 5 in. 1 ft. 8 in.; Base: approx. 10 ft. 5 in. x 8 ft. 11 in. x 5 ft.

(Sculpture, lower right side:) J. E. Fraser (Sculpture: lower left side:) Kunst-Foundry N.Y. (Back of base:) FREDERIC A. KEEP/DIED JUNE 2, 1911/AGE 53 YEARS/FLORENCE SHEFFIELD BOARDMAN KEEP/DIED JAN 26, 1954/AGE 89 YEARS/INFANT OF F AND F. KEEP/DIED OCT. 6, 1902 signed Founder's mark appears.

A male and a female figure stand on a low rectangular base which is adorned with metal inlay in a scroll design which rests on a larger rectangular base. The female figure raises both of her arms, resting her proper right hand on her right shoulder and her proper left hand on her left shoulder. The male figure stands very close to the female figure on her proper left side; his proper left arm appears to be behind her. Both figures are bare chested and are dressed in loose Roman-style drapery rolled at the waist, and Roman sandals. The female figure wears a cape over the back of her head. The female figure looks down and the male figure stares out into the distance. The figures are placed against a narrow granite wall which rests on top of the larger rectangular base.

Homage -- Keep, Frederick

Dress -- Historic -- Classical Dress

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

Rock Creek Cemetery, Rock Creek Church Road, N.W., Section A, Washington, District of Columbia 20011

Frederick Keep was a prominent Washington businessman whose wife, Florence, was the sister of Mabel T. Boardman, one of the founders of the American Red Cross. For further information see article in Washington Post, Oct. 3, 1920, which notes the sculpture was recently installed. The Goode publication notes that the base medium is marble and the SOS! survey lists the medium as granite. On page 561 of the Goode publication, there is a photograph of Fraser at work in his studio on the Keep monument.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 343.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, District of Columbia survey, 1993.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, I-19 and pg. 561.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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