Description
James Richard Mastin (1935-2016) was an American sculptor and painter, best known for his public monuments of life-sized bronze figures commemorating significant historical events and individuals. The hallmark of his work was meticulous craftsmanship and emotional content.
His most recognized public works are the Bahamian National Monument, "Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden" in Green Turtle Cay, The Bahamas, the "Key West Historical Memorial Sculpture Garden" in Key West, Florida, and "Les Chasseurs Volontaires" (commemorating The Siege of Savannah) in Savannah, Georgia.
The Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden was declared a national monument of The Bahamas. It consists of a central monument depicting two Loyalist women arriving in The Bahamas surrounded by 24 busts of descendants of Loyalist families. The Loyalists were those individuals who remained loyal to the British Crown after the American war of independence in 1776. Many Loyalists in the northern American colonies fled to Canada, while Loyalists in the more southern American colonies fled to the islands of the Bahamas with their slaves. The Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden was commissioned by the Historical Society of Green Turtle Cay.
The Key West Historical Memorial Sculpture Garden was commissioned by the Friends of Mallory Square, Key West. Its central monument, "The Wreckers" pays tribute to the brave men engaged in salvage operations that made Key West the richest city on the east coast of the United States south of New York in the nineteenth century.
Les Chasseurs Volontaires ("Siege of Savannah") was commissioned by the Haitian American Historical Society and the City of Savannah, and commemorates the free Haitian soldiers who successfully fought in the American Revolution in 1776 alongside the American colonial army in Savannah, Georgia to assist in the American efforts towards independence from Great Britain. The drummer boy depicted in the monument was a young Henri Christophe, who became one of the original leaders of the Haitian government, after Haiti obtained its independence from France.
Mastin also created a maquette, or model, for a larger than life-sized sculpture he contemplated called "Circle of Love" to celebrate the native American Lucayan people who lived in South Florida and in the Caribbean basin at the time of the arrival of European immigrants from Spain.
James Mastin was born in South Dakota, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. He was a classically trained artist, with degrees from Pasadena City College, the Art Center of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Art Institute, the Chouinard Art Institute, and studied under Sergei Bongart, as well as the Massachusetts Conservatory of Art and Music.
Mastin originally pursued an acting career and sold artwork to support his studies. After military service, he opened a commercial art studio in California. A large number of his paintings were put into print by Windsor Art. In the 1960s Mastin traveled the American Southwest, painting portraits of Native Americans. He began sculpting in the 1970s, primarily working in clay and wax, as well as plaster and resins. He moved to Miami, Florida in the 1970s and opened his permanent art studio, James Mastin Galleries. He remained in Miami until his death. Over the course of his career, Mastin created many allegorical, figurative, and abstract works exploring the human condition, and explored a variety of media and styles. Although his monumental, public works were heroic figurative pieces full of emotion, his personal work included oil, acrylic, and watercolor landscapes, abstracts, and portraits. He also experimented with mixed media, incorporating lights and sound generated by video images, LED light arrays, mirrors, and water elements. For his monumental work, Mastin sculpted in clay, casting his pieces in bronze using the ancient lost wax method of casting, finishing them with a chemical patina to add color and protect the pieces from the elements.
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Condition
Used
Buyer's Premium
20%
JAMES MASTIN (1935-2016) Fine Gallery oil painting Modernist Three Children
Estimate $250-$300
Starting Price
$100
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10594
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54933
Prints and Fine Art
Aug 6, 2026, 5:00 PM EDTNew York, NY, United States
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