Donal Albert Hord  (1902   -   1966)  Works

Donal Albert Hord (1902 – 1966)

Born in 1902 and raised in Seattle, Donal Albert Hord moved to San Diego with his mother in 1916. Hord enrolled in craft classes with Anna Valentien at the San Diego Evening High School. At age 16, he was already exhibiting his sculptures locally. In 1920, Hord met Homer Dana, who became a great friend and collaborator. Dana helped construct Hord’s larger works. 

In 1926, Hord attended a bronze casting course under Archibald Dawson at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts, where he received a scholarship to continue his studies. In 1929, Hord accepted an invitation to join the Contemporary Artists of San Diego, becoming the youngest member of the group. Although he did not return to San Diego for long, instead he traveled to Philadelphia to study at the Academy of the Fine Arts with Walker Hancock and to attend the Beaux Arts Institute in New York City.

By the 1930s, Hord’s work was receiving critical acclaim and awards as he began exhibiting thoroughly in Southern California. This acclaim, however, did not become prosperous with the failing economy during the Depression and Hord became employed by the government on several public art projects.

In the 1940s, Hord was awarded two Guggenheim fellowships and the Award of Merit from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He also began to exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and, in New York, at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1953, he received Fine Arts Medals from both the American Institute of Architects and the California Council of Architects.

Hord was a member of such prestigious societies as the National Academy of Design, the National Sculpture Society, as well asthe National Institute of Arts and Letters. 

Photo Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum