He created two statues for the FDR Memorial: one located in gallery Room Three depicts FDR seated with his dog Fala at his feet; the other, located in gallery Room Four depicts Eleanor Roosevelt standing in front of a seal of the United Nations in commemoration of her role as one of the first U.S. delegates to the U.N. This statue represents the first time a First Lady has been so honored in a presidential memorial.

The portrait and figurative sculptures of Neil Estern attempt to go beyond a mere recording of physical characteristics. His work captures the energy or the repose, the tidiness or the rumple, the wrinkles, the tilts, the gestures and body language -those details that animate a specific personality with a presence as unique as a fingerprint.

Mr. Estern's commissioned portraits include Fiorello LaGuardia, J. Robert Taft, John F. Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, Jimmy Carter and Lady Diana. It is Mr. Estern's intent that the viewer not only recognize his characters, but also feel that he has recreated the aura of that particular personality.

Neil Estern was born in New York City in 1926.