John Walz (31 August 1844 – 1922) was a German-American sculptor most famous for his works created in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, United States.

Early life

John Walz was born 31 August 1844 in Württemberg, Germany, to John and Elizabeth Walz. When Walz was thirteen or fourteen, he immigrated to the United States. His parents had died, and he went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to live with his married sister. There, he worked for eight years as a

stonecutter Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

, saving money to return to Europe for his education. Walz studied sculpting in Paris under the direction of

Aimé Millet Aimé Millet (September 28, 1819 – January 14, 1891) was a noted French sculptor, who was born and died in Paris. Millet was the son of miniaturist Frédéric Millet (1796–1859) and uncle to Chicago architectural decorator Julian Louis Mi ...

and in Vienna under the direction of

Viktor Oskar Tilgner Viktor Oskar Tilgner (25 October 1844 in Pressburg – 16 April 1896 in Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor and medailleur. Life He was the son of Captain Carl Tilgner. The family moved to Vienna when he was a child. His talent was recogniz ...

. In 1885, Walz returned to the United States.

Life in Savannah

Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences 2 02

Carl Ludwig Brandt, the director of

Telfair Academy The Telfair Academy is a historic mansion at 121 Barnard Street in Savannah, Georgia. It was designed by William Jay and built in 1818, and is one of a small number of Jay's surviving works. It is one of three sites owned by Telfair Museums. Or ...

, in

, commissioned Walz's employer to create the statues that stand in front of the Academy. In 1886, Walz accompanied the statues to Savannah. He fell in love with the city, deciding to stay and open his own studio. Walz became a popular choice for creating gravesite monuments, creating over seventy within

Bonaventure Cemetery Bonaventure Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' by John Berendt, ...

. Walz's works can also be found in Savannah's

Laurel Grove Cemetery Laurel Grove Cemetery is a cemetery located in midtown Savannah, Georgia. It includes the original cemetery for whites (now known as Laurel Grove North) and a companion burial ground (called Laurel Grove South) that was reserved for slaves and fr ...

and the city's Catholic Cemetery.

Gracie Watson

One of his most notable works is the monument he created for Gracie Watson. Gracie Watson was the only daughter of W. J. Watson and his wife, Frances. She became ill with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and died in 1889 at age six. The year after her death, W. J. Watson took a photograph of Gracie to Walz, requesting a memorial to her. Walz sculpted a lifelike monument of a pensive Gracie lost in thought. Gracie's grave has been called "one of the most visited sites in Bonaventure Cemetery." Gracie's monument is also one of the only funerary monuments in Georgia sculpted in someone's exact likeness.

Death

Walz died in 1922, and was interred at Bonaventure Cemetery. Walz's grave was not initially marked by a memorial: a simple wooden sign indicated his grave until the Bonaventure Historical Society commissioned a monument for it.

Legacy

In 2012, the Bonaventure Historical Society held a rededication ceremony for the John Walz Memorial Garden. The Memorial Garden contains a variety of over eighty plants. Bonaventure Cemetery also has a street named Walz Way in honor of him. Walz has been called a sculptor of "transcendent local importance."

Personal life

Walz married Sarah Gilmore in 1907 at the age of 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walz, John 1844 births 1922 deaths German sculptors