William Rudolf O'Donovan
William Rudolf O'Donovan | |
|---|---|
 William Rudolf O'Donovan and his bust of Walt Whitman (May 1891). Photograph by Thomas Eakins.[1] | |
| Born | March 28, 1844 |
| Died | April 20, 1920 (aged 76) |
| Known for | Sculpture |
William Rudolf O'Donovan (March 28, 1844 – April 20, 1920[2]) was an American sculptor.
Biography[edit]
O'Donovan was born in Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and taught himself to sculpt. After the Civil War, in which O'Donovan served in the Confederate army, he opened a studio in New York City and became well known as a sculptor, especially of memorial pieces.[3]
In 1878, O'Donovan become an associate of the National Academy of Design.[3] George Washington was a favorite subject of his, and he published a series of papers on Washington portraits.[4] During the 1870s and 1880s he collaborated with Maurice J. Power, politician, sculptor and owner of the National Fine Art Foundry producing many works of public art.[5]
Selected works[edit]
- Relief portrait of Bayard Taylor (c. 1870), Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.[6]
- Portrait of Winslow Homer (c. 1878), bronze. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.[7]
- John Paulding (1880), Captors' Monument, Patriot's Park, Tarrytown, New York.[8]
- Cavalry Officer; Sailor (1880–81), Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lawrence, Massachusetts.[9]
- Bas-relief panels of Herkimer Directing the Oriskany Battle and Combat (1882–84), Oriskany Battlefield Monument, Oriskany, New York.[10]
- George Washington (1883), Plaza Washington, El Paraiso, Caracas, Venezuela.[11][12]
- Marie Heimlicher (1884), bronze. Smithsonian Institution. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.[13]
- Colonel Daniel Morgan (1885–86), Saratoga Battle Monument, Saratoga National Historical Park, Victory Mills, New York.[14][15]
- Tower of Victory, Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site, Newburgh, New York.[16][17]
- George Washington (1886–87).
- Architectural sculptures of Rifleman; Artilleryman; Light Dragoon; and Infantry Line Officer (1888).
- Irish Brigade Monument (1888), Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A granite Celtic Cross guarded by a life-size bronze statue of an Irish wolfhound.[18]
- Bust of Walt Whitman (1891), unlocated.[19]
- Archbishop Hughes (1891), Fordham University, Fordham, New York.[20]
- Trenton Battle Monument, Trenton, New Jersey.[21][22]
- Colossal Statue of George Washington (1891–93).
- Private John Russell and Private Blair McClenachan (1891–93), two statues of 14th Regiment Massachusetts soldiers flanking the monument's entrance.[23]
- Thomas Eakins modeled two bas-relief panels for the monument's base; Charles Henry Niehaus modeled the third panel.
- Bust of Thomas Eakins (1892), bronze; unlocated. Exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, 1893, item #154.[24][25]
- Bas-relief panels of President Lincoln and General Grant (1893–94), Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York.[26][27] O'Donovan modeled the men; Thomas Eakins modeled the horses.
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John Paulding (1880), atop the Captors' Monument, Patriot's Park, Tarrytown, New York. -
Cavalry Officer (1880–81), Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lawrence, Massachusetts. -
Sailor (1880–81), Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lawrence, Massachusetts. -
Herkimer Directing the Oriskany Battle (1882–84), Oriskany Battle Monument, Oriskany, New York. -
Combat (1882–84), Oriskany Battle Monument, Oriskany, New York. -
Tower of Victory (1886–88), Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site, Newburgh, New York. -
Irish Brigade Monument (1888), Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
President Lincoln (1893–94), Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York. -
General Grant (1893–94), Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York.
Notes[edit]
- ^ Bust of Walt Whitman
- ^ "O'Donovan, William Rudolf". Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. Comprehensive Index. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1990.
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "O'Donovan, William Rudolf". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 9.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ Reason, Akila (2010). Thomas Eakins and the Uses of History. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0812241983.
- ^ Taylor relief from SIRIS.
- ^ Portrait of Winslow Homer from SIRIS.
- ^ Captors' Monument from SIRIS.
- ^ Lawrence, MA monument from SIRIS.
- ^ Oriskany Monument from SIRIS.
- ^ Inscription: "El Gobierno y el Pueblo de Venezuela a JORGE WASHINGTON Fundador de la Republica del Norte Erigido en el Centenario del Libertador Simon Bolivar 1883." Source: Frances David Whittemore, George Washington in Sculpture (2005), p. 125.
- ^ Venezuela Washington from Flickr.
- ^ Marie Heimlicher from SIRIS.
- ^ Col. Morgan from SIRIS.
- ^ Col. Morgan from Historic Marker Database.
- ^ Newburgh Washington from SIRIS.
- ^ Newburgh Washington from Flickr.
- ^ Irish Brigade from SIRIS.
- ^ Whitman bust from SIRIS.
- ^ Archbishop Hughes from Fordham University Library.
- ^ Trenton Battle Monument from SIRIS.
- ^ Trenton Washington from Destination Trenton.
- ^ Meredith Bzdak, Public Sculpture in New Jersey: Monuments to Collective Identity (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1999), pp. 36-37.
- ^ National Museum of American Art; National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution) (1993). Revisiting the white city: American art at the 1893 World's Fair. Washington, D.C. : Hanover: National Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution ; Distributed by the University Press of New England. p. 371. ISBN 0937311014.
- ^ Bust of Thomas Eakins from SIRIS
- ^ Lincoln relief from SIRIS.
- ^ Grant relief from SIRIS.
References[edit]
- Virginia Baird Kelly, William Rudolf O'Donovan and the Business, Politics, and Art of Sculpture (Masters thesis, Syracuse University, 1992).
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Rudolf O'Donovan.
- The William Rudolf O'Donovan Papers are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
- William Rudolf O'Donovan, on the Smithsonian American Art Museum website
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