The late 1920s and early 1930s saw a trend in commemorating important Members in marble. Minority Leader Claude Kitchin was among them. This 1929 commission was awarded to Italian sculptor Edgardo Simone, who had recently immigrated to the United States. An established artist in Italy, his arrival in New York was celebrated, and he quickly accumulated a number of celebrity clients, including Louis Brandeis and Henry Ford. The Kitchin bust reflects the artist’s classical training—as well as a touch of his more modern art nouveau influences—in this naturalistic and somewhat informal portrait.
History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “Claude Kitchin,” https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2005/2005-141-001/ (July 24, 2021)
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