Frederick Wellington Ruckstull, German: ''Friedrich Ruckstuhl'' (May 22, 1853 – May 26, 1942) was a French-born American sculptor and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

Life and career

Born ''Ruckstuhl'' in Breitenbach, Alsace, France, his family moved to

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, ...

, in 1855. He worked at a variety of unsatisfying jobs until his early twenties when an art exhibition in St. Louis inspired him to become a sculptor. He studied art locally, visited Paris and then worked for years as a toy store clerk to save enough to study in Paris for three years. In 1885, Ruckstull entered the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

, and studied under

Gustave Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (25 April 1824 – 22 September 1888) was a French figurative painter and academic artist and teacher known for his Classical and Orientalist subjects. Education and career The Néo-Grecs and the Prix de Rom ...

Camille Lefèvre Camille Lefèvre (1853–1933) was a French sculptor. Biography Born in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in 1870 Lefèvre became a pupil of Jules Cavelier at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1878, he won the second Prix de ...

Jean Dampt Jean Baptiste Auguste Dampt (1854–1945) was a French sculptor, medalist, and jeweler. Biography Born in Venarey-les-Laumes as the son of a cabinetmaker, Dampt studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, then in 1874 under the leadership of ...

and

Antonin Mercié Marius Jean Antonin Mercié (October 30, 1845 in Toulouse – December 12, 1916 in Paris), was a French sculptor, medallist and painter. Biography Mercié entered the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and studied under Alexandre Falguière and ...

. He considered studying with

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

, but claimed to be disgusted with his style. On returning to U.S. in 1892, Ruckstull opened a studio in New York City. His work ''Evening'' won the grand medal for sculpture at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. As a result of this national exposure, he was commissioned to make an equestrian statue of Major-General

John F. Hartranft John Frederick Hartranft (December 16, 1830 – October 17, 1889) was the United States military officer who read the death warrant to the individuals who were executed on July 7, 1865 for conspiring to assassinate American President Abraham Lin ...

for the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. In 1893, Ruckstull was appointed to teach modeling and marble carving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Schools in New York City. He was also deeply involved with creating Confederate memorial sculpture, forging a sculptural iconography for the Southern ideology of the Lost Cause. Ruckstull was a founding member of the National Sculpture Society as well as the editor of the conservative magazine ''Art World,'' where he wrote under the pseudonym Petronius Arbiter, a reference to the ''Satyricon''. In the spring of 1917, he wrote a manifesto inveighing against degenerate modernist art, where he attacked both the artworks and the artists, using racist tropes and the quasi-medical language of physiognomy to attack them. In 1925 he wrote the book ''Great Works of Art and What Makes Them Great,'' a collection of essays he had published previously, which has recently been reprinted. His sculpture was in the figurative

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

, with its realism, and detailed modeling. He and other prominent sculptors of the era such as

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...

championed the French style of studio system teaching, art societies, and exhibitions. Following the Armory Show of 1913, he continued to represent the old guard of academic sculpture, a perspective clearly expressed in his book. Ruckstull married in 1896 and had one son. He died at his home in New York on May 26, 1942, four days after his 89th birthday, and was cremated.

Works

''Evening''
Metropolitan Museum of Art * ''Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument'', also known as ''Victory'' or the ''Peace Monument'', in Major John Mark Park,

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...

, New York City (1896) * Statue of Wade Hampton III, National Statuary Hall Collection, United States Capitol (1929) * Wade Hampton, equestrian statue

South Carolina State House The South Carolina State House is the building housing the government of the U.S. state of South Carolina, which includes the South Carolina General Assembly and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Located in t ...

grounds (1906)
''Solon''
Reading Room, Library of Congress * ''Wisdom'' an
''Force''
Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State * ''Altar to Liberty: Minerva'', Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY (1920) * ''Dongan Oak Monument'', Battle Pass, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY (1922)
Busts
front portico, Library of Congress * ''

Uriah Milton Rose Uriah Milton Rose (March 5, 1834 – August 12, 1913) was an American lawyer and Confederate sympathizer. "Approachable, affable, and kind," graceful and courteous, he was called "the most scholarly lawyer in America" and "one of the leading ...

'', National Statuary Hall Collection United States Capitol
John F. Hartranft
Pa. Capitol, Harrisburg * ''Confederate Monument'',

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

* ''Phoenicia''

New York Custom House The United States Custom House, sometimes referred to as the New York Custom House, was the place where the United States Customs Service collected federal customs duties on imported goods within New York City. Locations The Custom House ...

* ''Defense of the Flag'', Little Rock, Arkansas
''Angels of the Confederacy''
Columbia, South Carolina. * ''

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...

'', National Statuary Hall Collection United States Capitol
''Soldiers' Monument''

Stafford Springs, Connecticut Stafford Springs is a census-designated place located in Stafford, Connecticut. The population was 4,988 at the 2010 Census. The village was a borough until November 1991, when it was disincorporated. Located near the source of the Willimantic R ...

Charles Duncan McIver
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, dedicated to the school on October 5, 1912, an anniversary of the school's founding * '' Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument'', Baltimore, Maryland, dedicated on May 2, 1903

References

Notes

External links

National Sculpture Society
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruckstull, Frederick 1853 births 1942 deaths American architectural sculptors Académie Julian alumni 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists Sculptors from Missouri Artists from St. Louis National Sculpture Society members