Edward Kemeys on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Edward Kemeys (January 31, 1843 – May 11, 1907) was an American sculptor and considered America's first animalier.
He is best known for his sculptures of animals, particularly the two bronze lions that mark the entrance to the
File:Hudson Wolves Kemeys.JPG, ''Hudson Bay Wolves'', 1873, in Philadelphia Zoo.
File:Panther and Cubs Kemeys 01.jpg, ''Panther and Cubs'', c. 1878, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
File:Prayer for Rain CU IL.JPG, ''Prayer for Rain'', c. 1899, in West Side Park, Champaign, Illinois.
File:Edward Kemeys' Bronze Bison Sculpture, Humboldt Park Formal Garden, Chicago.jpg, Bronze Bison Sculpture, Humboldt Park Formal Garden, Chicago.
File:Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys (2).jp
Installation view of the ''Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys'', Corcoran Gallery of Art, December 15-26, 1907, gelatin silver print
File:Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys (1).jp
Installation view of the ''Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys'', Corcoran Gallery of Art, December 15-26, 1907, gelatin silver print
File:Art Institute of Chicago Lion Statue (2-D).jpg, North lion at the Art Institute of Chicago, pose informally designated by Kemeys as "on the prowl." Bronze, 1893.
''Bronze Gallery'' biographySmithsonian American Art Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemeys, Edward L. 1843 births 1907 deaths People from Savannah, Georgia Artists from Georgia (U.S. state) Animal artists 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American painters 19th-century male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century male artists
Edward Kemeys (January 31, 1843 – May 11, 1907) was an American sculptor and considered America's first animalier.
He is best known for his sculptures of animals, particularly the two bronze lions that mark the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago Building
The Art Institute of Chicago Building (1893 structure built as the ''World's Congress Auxiliary Building'') houses the Art Institute of Chicago, and is part of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the Loop community are ...
in Chicago Illinois. Kemeys was also a captain in the 4th United States Colored Heavy Artillery, Company H, writer, lecturer, and adventurer in the Western United States.
Life
Kemeys was born on January 31, 1843, in Savannah, Georgia.. to Abby Greene of Providence, Rhode Island, and William Kemeys of Scarborough, New York. The Kemeys family lived in Savannah, GA, moving back to New York after the death of his mother in 1843. Kemeys first worked in the iron business of New York City at age seventeen. Civil War When the Civil War broke out, Kemeys enlisted. He was 19. Kemeys volunteered for the 65th Volunteer Regiment of the State of New York. "I served in the Peninsula campaign till I fell sick of fever and was discharged. I went in again later as a second lieutenant." Kemeys re-enlisted as a commissioned officer in the 4th United States Colored Heavy Artillery, Company H attaining the rank of captain. He resigned his commission in 1866. After the Civil War He studied in New York City and then Paris. In Paris, he was impressed by the style of Antoine-Louis Barye, although in no sense an imitator. He made a specialty of the wild animals of the American continent. His “Fight between Buffalo and Wolves” attracted much attention at theParis Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
in 1878. Among his other important works are “Panther and Deer,” and “Coyote and Raven.” A colossal head of a buffalo for the facade of the station of the Pacific railroad at St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, which was cast in bronze in New York in August, 1887, was the largest work of its kind that had been done in the United States. Another bronze statue of a panther named "Still Hunt," is permanently situated on a rock flanking the East Drive of New York City's Central Park.
Kemeys died in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 1907. He and his wife, Laura Kemeys, are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Gallery
Installation view of the ''Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys'', Corcoran Gallery of Art, December 15-26, 1907, gelatin silver print
File:Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys (1).jp
Installation view of the ''Memorial Exhibition of the Works in Sculpture by the Late Edward Kemeys'', Corcoran Gallery of Art, December 15-26, 1907, gelatin silver print
File:Art Institute of Chicago Lion Statue (2-D).jpg, North lion at the Art Institute of Chicago, pose informally designated by Kemeys as "on the prowl." Bronze, 1893.
References
Furth reading
*External links
''Bronze Gallery'' biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemeys, Edward L. 1843 births 1907 deaths People from Savannah, Georgia Artists from Georgia (U.S. state) Animal artists 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American painters 19th-century male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century male artists