1866-1924
Architect

Leader in the Beaux-Arts Style.

Henry Bacon's greatest accomplishment was designing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (completed in 1917 and dedicated in 1922), a project that reflects his profound commitment to American democratic ideals. In his time Bacon was respected as one of the most talented exponents of the fashionable Beaux-Arts style of architecture, so-called because it was taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Based on a careful study of antiquity and often combining an eclectic use of other historic elements, this style placed great emphasis on refinement of taste and made up in elegance and sophistication what it sometimes lacked in vitality and originality. Bacon's contribution to the American interpretation of Beaux-Arts design was a pure classicism born of his great love for ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture. Yet perhaps his most significant legacy to American architecture was his...