Early Life

Donal was born Donald Horr but dropped the final “d” from the end of his first name and replaced the last letter of his last name with it after his mother and father divorced when he was just 7-years-old.  His mother moved to the west coast from his birthplace in Wisconsin and first settled in Seattle with the sculptor reportedly completed his first work at just 9-years-old.  After contracting rheumatic fever, which permanently damaged his heart, in 1916 his mother moved them to San Diego where he remained until he died in 1966 of a heart attack.

Although mainly homeschooled, Donal attended evening classes at San Diego High School and studied sculpture under Anna Marie Valentien, who had studied with sculptor Jean-Antoine Injalbert at Académie Colarossi and then Auguste Rodin at Académie Rodin, most famous for his statue The Thinker.

Aztec Inspiration

In 1920, when he was just 18-years-old, Donal met Homer Dana, who was in the U.S. Navy at the time and initially was a model for Donal.  He soon became Donal’s assistant and life partner. In 1926, the two studied bronze casting together at Santa Barbara School of Arts under the tutelage of Scottish sculptor Archibald Dawson.

Early Career

In 1928, Donal receives Gould Scholarship that allows him to study sculpture in Mexico for 11-months.  This experience will continue to inform his artwork including his Woman of Tehuantepec and his Aztec pieces.  The following summer, Donal becomes the youngest member of the Contemporary Artists of San Diego.

Marriage

In 1932, Donal Hord married his childhood friend Dorr Bothwell who had returned that year to San Diego after spending two years on the island of Ta’u in American Somoa and two years in traveling in Europe. The marriage was short-lived, according to some because Dorr was fiercely independent and because of differences in opinions on “domestic duties.”  Also, likely, because Donal Hord was masking his homosexuality.

Examples of Hord's Work

Later Career

The post-World War Two world saw Hord at the height of his career. Working with Homer Dana he produced many small works as well as some bas reliefs for the San Diego Public Library. He was one of only 250 sculptors to have an exhibit in 1949, at the 3rd International Sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Donal suffered with poor health his entire life, having contracted rheumatic fever as a child. He had a fatal heart attack on June 29, 1966. Dana donated Donal’s lifetime collection  of books and sculptures in gratitude for the library’s assistance over the years. Dana caste Hord’s final bronze, titled Summer Rain two years after his death.

For further information about Donal Hord, listen to his oral history interview from 1964, courtesy from the Smithsonian Institution