The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 1985, Volume 31, Number 3
Thomas Scharf, Managing Editor
Hord Exhibit ~ Public Works ~ Complete works ~ Chronology
1902 February 26 – born Donald Albert Horr at Prentice, Wisconsin, son of Riley Merton Horr and Laraire “Laura” Beaudin Horr
1909 parents separate, taken by mother to Victor, Montana, and later to Seattle, Washington; spelling of last name changed
1915 studies watercolor in Seattle
1916 Winter – develops rheumatic fever, permanently damaging heart; Summer – arrives in San Diego on steamship Congress
1917 studies sculpture under Anna Valentien, San Diego Evening High School
1920 meets Homer Dana
1926 September through June 1928 – studies bronze casting at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts with Archibald Dawson and Amory Simons
1928 September through June 1929 – Gould scholarship allows eleven months study in Mexico
1929 Summer – becomes youngest member of the Contemporary Artists of San Diego; Fall – Gould scholarship allows one semester study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with Walker Hancock and others
1930 Winter – Gould scholarship allows one semester study at the Beaux Arts Institute, New York returning from New York visits father in Lemmon, South Dakota, who gives money to build Pascoe St. studio
1931 Culua receives merit award at the Los Angeles County Museum annual exhibit; Young Maize receives purchase award at the Southern California Art Exhibit of the San Diego Fine Arts Gallery
1932 June 19 – marries Dorr Bothwell in San Diego; makes three month trip to Mexico with Francis Cooke
1933 April – first one-man show, Dalzell Hatfield Gallery, Los Angeles
1934 does first work for government art programs; October 23 – separated from Dorr Bothwell
1935 completes fountain figure for California Pacific Exposition and exhibits Mayan Mask, Tropic Cycle, Young Maize, Man with a Sheaf of Wheat; awarded gold medal for “Sculptural Excellence” at California Pacific International Exposition; July – moves into new studio in Pacific Beach; October – begins writing “Art & Artists” column for the San Diego Sun
1936 August 20 – final divorce from Dorr Bothwell
1939 December 16 – marries Florence Silberhorn Norse in Salome, Arizona
1942 elected Associate of the National Sculpture Society; exhibits five pieces in the “Americans 1942” show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York
1943 February 15 – named Associate of the National Academy of Design; suffers heart attack, urged by doctors to stop sculpture work
1945 receives Guggenheim fellowship to further his work in hard sculpture
1947 Summer – begins teaching at the Coronado School of Fine Arts; receives second Guggenheim fellowship
1948 May 21 – receives Award of Merit Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
1949 exhibits Spring Stirring at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Third Sculpture International
1950 May 26 – named member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters
1951 April 25 – named full Academician of the National Academy Design; Fall – begins teaching at the Art Center in La Jolla; December through February 1952 – Thunder exhibited at the National Sculpture Show, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
1952 January 21 – elected honorary member of the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
1953 June 16 – receives Fine Arts Medal of the American Institute of Architects; October 17 – receives Fine Arts Award of the California Council of Architects
1954 Fall through July 1955 – first trip abroad (London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Egypt, Istanbul, Athens)
1956 commissioned by the American Battle Monuments Commission to a figure for the American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium
1957 May – leaves for Italy to model figure for Battle Monument
1958 January 9 – named Fellow of the National Sculpture Society
1959 designs Industrial Arts Medal for the American Institute of Architects; finishes last stone sculpture Mourning Woman
1960 concrete replica of Guardian of Water sent to Yokohama, Japan, as part of the Sister Cities program, sculptor not consulted about replica idea and disapproves
1962 one of three finalists in the competition for the Stone Mountain Memorial, Georgia Walker Hancock gets commission
1964 receives commission for large trophy figure for the Swedish Swimming Federation – returns to Italy in Spring to supervise casting of figure
1965 finishes last wooden figure Daybreak
1966 June 29 – suffers fatal heart attack before final work, enlarged version of Summer Rain, is cast in bronze
1968 Dana returns to Italy to supervise casting of Summer Rain
Return to Photograph Collection.
