Caspar Buberl (1834 – August 22, 1899) was an American sculptor. He is best known for his
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
monuments, for the
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
relief panels on the
Garfield Memorial in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio (depicting the various stages of
James Garfield's life), and for the -long
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
on the
Pension Building
The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private non-profit i ...
in Washington, D.C.
Biography
Born in Königsberg,
Bohemia, (now
Kynšperk nad Ohří
Kynšperk nad Ohří (; german: Königsberg an der Eger) is a town in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,600 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
Villages of Chotíkov, Dolní Pochlovice, Dvorečky, K ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
), as a young man Buberl studied art in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
before immigrating to the United States in 1854 to train under sculptor
Robert Eberhard Launitz
Robert Eberhard Launitz (4 November 1806 – 13 December 1870) was a Russian-American sculptor.
Biography
Launitz was born into a Baltic German family in Riga, Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire. He received a classical an ...
.
He married Anna Stubner in 1856, and they had nine children.
In 1882
Montgomery C. Meigs was chosen to design and construct the new Pension Building, now the
National Building Museum, in Washington D. C. and, in doing so, broke away from the established Greco-Roman models that had been the basis of government buildings in Washington up until then, and was to continue to be following the Pension Building's completion. Meigs based his design on
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
precedents, notably
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
's
Palazzo Farnese
Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French emb ...
and Plazzo della Cancelleria.
![CB - Hillsboro OH](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/CB_-_Hillsboro_OH.jpg)
Included in his design was a -long sculptured frieze executed by Buberl. Since creating a work of sculpture of that size was well out of Meigs' budget, he had Buberl create 28 different scenes [totaling in length), which were then mixed and slightly modified to create the continuous parade that includes over 1,300 individual figures. Because of the way that the 28 sections were modified and intermixed, it is only by somewhat careful examination that the frieze reveals itself to be the same figures repeated some eighteen times. The sculpture includes infantry, navy, artillery, cavalry and medical components as well as a good deal of the logistics, supply and quartermaster functions, since Meigs had overseen the latter two functions during the Civil War.
Meigs insisted that any teamster included in the Quartermaster panel "must be a negro, a plantation slave, freed by war". This figure was ultimately to assume a position in the center, over the west entrance to the building.
Buberl created dozens of Civil War statues and monuments for various cities and states, including several for New York veterans associations to be placed on the
Gettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot ...
and a bronze bust of President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, which was recently sold for $5,800.
His impressive New York State Monument crowns
Cemetery Hill, and a number of individual memorials for specific regiments dot the battlefield.
He died at his studio in New York City.
[
]
Leading works
Monuments on the Gettysburg battlefield
* 9th New York Cavalry Monument – dedicated July 1, 1888
* 4th New York Independent Battery – dedicated July 2, 1888
* 5th New York Cavalry Monument – dedicated July 3, 1888
* 126th New York Infantry – dedicated October 3, 1888
* 10th New York Cavalry Monument – dedicated October 9, 1888
* 54th New York Infantry – dedicated July 4, 1890
* 111th New York Infantry Monument – dedicated June 26, 1891
* New York State Monument – dedicated July 2, 1893
* 41st New York Infantry – dedicated July 3, 1893
* 52nd New York Infantry – dedicated July 3, 1893
File:CB NYState-Mon.jpg, New York State Monument
File:NY Monument Gettysburg Nat Cem top.jpg, Figure of ''Liberty'' atop the NY State Monument
File:CB NYState-Mon-detail.jpg, Death of General Reynolds, detail of the NY State Monument
Other Civil War monuments
*Civil War Monument, Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644.
Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...
, George Keller, architect, 1879
*Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
, George Keller, architect, 1884
* Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Nashua, New Hampshire, 1889
* Alexandria Confederate Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
, 1889
* Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...
, 1890.
** Four relief panels: ''Cavalry'', ''Artillery'', ''Infantry'', ''The Monitor and the Merrimac''
*A.P. Hill Monument, Richmond, Virginia, 1892
*Howitzer Monument
The Howitzer Monument was installed in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States. It commemorated the Richmond Howitzers, a Confederate artillery unit. The statue was created by Caspar Buberl. It was located on Virginia Commonwealth University' ...
, Richmond, Virginia, 1892
*Confederate Monument, University of Virginia Cemetery, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1893
* Raphael Semmes Monument, Mobile, Alabama, 1899
Other memorials and monuments
*Fulton Memorial, Fulton Park, Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, 1872
*Fireman's Memorial, Church Square Park, Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
, 1891
*Dewey Triumphal Arch, Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (cloc ...
, New York City, 1899
Architectural sculpture
*''Columbia Defending Science and Industry'', National Museum/Art and Industries Building, Washington, D.C., Adolph Cluss
Adolf Ludwig Cluss (July 14, 1825 – July 24, 1905) also known as Adolph Cluss was a German-born American immigrant who became one of the most important, influential and prolific architects in Washington, D.C., in the late 19th century, respon ...
, architect, Montgomery Meigs, associate architect, 1881
*Pension Building Frieze, National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., Montgomery Meigs, architect, 1883
* James A. Garfield Memorial, Lake View Cemetery
Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...
, Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio, George Keller, architect, 1890
*Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut, honors the 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the American Civil War, including 400 who died for the Union cause. It is notable as the first permanent triumphal ...
, Hartford, Connecticut, George Keller, architect, 1890
Pension Building frieze
File:Meigs-1.jpg, National Building Museum
File:Meigs-2.jpg, Corner figures
File:National Building Museum frieze.JPG, South entrance
File:Meigs-5.jpg, Black teamster
Images of the James A. Garfield Memorial
File:CB-Garfield--6.jpg, James A. Garfield Memorial, Lake View Cemetery
Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...
, Cleveland, Ohio, 1890, George Keller, architect
File:CB-Garfield--2.jpg, James A. Garfield Memorial detail – Garfield, the Educator
File:CB-Garfield--3.jpg, James A. Garfield Memorial detail – Garfield, the Civil War Hero
File:CB-Garfield--4.jpg, James A. Garfield Memorial detail – Garfield, the Martyred President
Images of Hartford memorial
File:CB -War Memorial, Hartford CT.jpg, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch
The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut, honors the 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the American Civil War, including 400 who died for the Union cause. It is notable as the first permanent triumphal ...
, Hartford, Connecticut, 1885, George Keller, architect
File:CB - Hartford detail.jpg, Hartford detail
Images of Buffalo memorial
File:Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Buffalo, NY - IMG 3705.JPG, Buffalo Civil War Monument, 1883
File:Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Buffalo, NY - IMG 3730.JPG, Detail
File:BuberlBuffalo2.jpg, Detail
File:Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Buffalo, NY - IMG 3732.JPG, Detail
Footnotes
References
*Camden, Richard N., ''Outdoor Sculpture of Ohio,'' Chagrin Falls, Ohio: West Summit Press, 1980.
*Craven, Wayne, ''The Sculpture at Gettysburg,'' Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Eastern Acorn Press, 1982.
*Gaede, Robert C., and Robert Kalin, ''Guide to Cleveland Architecture,'' Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, 1990.
*Goode, James M., ''The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C.,'' Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974.
*Hawthorne, Frederick W.,'' Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments,'' Hanover, Pennsylvania: The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides, 1988.
*Kuckro, Anne Crofoot, ''Hartford Architecture, Volume One: Downtown,'' Hartford, Connecticut: Hartford Architecture Conservatory, Inc., 1976.
*Kvaran and Lockley, ''Guide to the Architectural Sculpture of America,'' unpublished manuscript
*McDaniel, Joyce L., ''The Collected Works of Caspar Buberl: An Analysis of a Nineteenth Century American Sculptor,'' Wellesley, Massachusetts: MA thesis, Wellesley College, 1976.
*Ovason, David
''The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: the Masons and the building of Washington, D.C.''
New York City: Perennial, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buberl, Caspar
1834 births
1899 deaths
People from Kynšperk nad Ohří
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
German Bohemian people
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
American people of German Bohemian descent
American architectural sculptors
Artists from Cleveland
People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
19th-century American sculptors
American male sculptors
Sculptors from Ohio
19th-century American male artists