Mahonri M. Young

American sculptor, painter, and printmaker, 1877–1957

BiographyGrandson of Brigham Young, the Utah governor and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, Mahonri Young was born and raised in Salt Lake City. As a teen, he studied art under local artist James T. Harwood and worked as an engraver at the Salt Lake Tribune. He continued his art study at the Art Students League in New York and the Académie Julian in Paris. Young decided to focus on sculpture and returned to Utah, but he was unable to find sufficient commissions to support himself and his family, so he relocated to New York in 1910. Young is best known for his sculptures of boxers, Native Americans, and laborers. His realistic depictions of ordinary workers align him with the Ashcan School painters.

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