Jørgen Christian Dreyer (December 26, 1877 – November 17, 1948) was a Norwegian-born American sculptor. He emigrated to the United States in 1903 and worked as a professor of sculpture at the

Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. It has approx ...

from 1907 to 1909. In his career Dreyer created a number of monumental sculptures, some of which are located in Kansas City, Missouri. His major works include: ''Life Drift''; ''The Goddess of Dawn''; ''Sphinxes'' (pair); ''Biology and Chemistry'' (a pair of figures); ''Lionesses'' (pair); ''The Message'' (a bust of Archibald Butt); ''Bust of Sir Carl Busch''; ''Mercury, god of commerce''; and ''Bust of Major General

Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...

''.

Early life (1877–1909)

Dreyer was born in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

, Norway, on December 26, 1877. He was the son of Hans Dreyer and his wife Regina Dreyer (née Mikkelsdatter). He grew to become a tall man, of slender build, and had blue eyes and auburn brown hair. After schooling at the Latin School in Tromsø, he attended the Royal School of Art and Industries in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

. His first sculpture was in snow, of an old professor, which everyone recognized.Kansas City Star, Vol. 32, Issue 119, p. 10, January 14, 1912 So even though he had started in drawing and painting at the Royal Academy, he saw (and others recognized) that his true gifts were modeling and sculpting. He continued studies with

Stephan Sinding Stephan Abel Sinding (4 August 1846 – 23 January 1922) was a Norwegian- Danish sculptor. He moved to Copenhagen in 1883 and had his breakthrough the same year. In 1890 he obtained Danish citizenship. In 1910 he settled in Paris where he live ...

, one of the greatest of European sculptors.Kansas City Star, p. 3, November 17, 1948. Dreyer modeled a bust of an Ibsen character, which Ibsen saw at a school exhibition. Ibsen sought out Dreyer and complimented him in person. After art school, Dreyer was considering a move to Paris to begin his career. But after a letter from his sister in Topeka, Kansas told of an awakening interest in art and a shortage of sculptors, the young sculptor decided to try America rather than the already overcrowded city of Paris. Dreyer went to America in 1903 and made Kansas City, Missouri, his home for more than 40 years.Ford, Susan Jezak
"Dreyer biography"
1999. He moved into a studio and an apartment at 407 Studio Building (previously at the northwest corner of 9th Street and Locust) in Kansas City. He was a sculpture professor at the Fine Arts Institute (which later became the

) from 1907 to 1909.Lawson, Patricia. "The Stones of Jorgen Dreyer", Historic Kansas City Foundation Gazette, pp. 1 and 5, August–September 1981. Kansas City Public Library, Missouri Valley Special Collection, location q977.8411 H673. Dreyer was dismissed from the Art Institute because he used nude models, a charge for which Thomas H. Benton would also be dismissed from the Art Institute in the 1930s. He married Lorena E. McWilliams, one of his students, in 1918.

Early works (1909–1925)

One of his first works was a sculpture of a woman reclining on the ground. One cast of this sculpture was acquired in the first year of the City Art Museum of Saint Louis (which later became the Saint Louis Art Museum) in 1909. The museum sold this sculpture, titled "Life Drift", through Christie's East, New York, October 15, 1986, sale number 6215, lot 47.Kansas City Star, Vol. 29, Issue 50, p. 1, November 6, 1908. A rush commission was given to Dreyer in 1912 following the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic''. He sculpted a bust of Major Archibald Butt who was killed in the ''Titanic'' disaster. Butt was a close personal aide to presidents

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

and Taft. The commissioned piece, which Dreyer completed on June 15, 1912 and titled ''The Message'', was on a base representing a ship on the ocean. Dreyer sculpted a bust of Sir Carl Busch in 1912. Busch was the founder of what became the

Kansas City Symphony Orchestra Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

, and was its conductor from 1911 until 1918. This plaster bust was previously in the foyer of the Music Hall of the Kansas City Auditorium, and was moved to the Carl Busch Papers and Musical Instrument Collection housed within the

Sousa Archives and Center for American Music The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music (SACAM) documents American music through historical artifacts and archival records in multiple formats. The center is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's library system an ...

in Champaign, Illinois, in 1936.Musical Monitor, Official Magazine of the National Federation of Musical Clubs, Vol. IV, No. 6, p. 207, February 1915.Carl Busch Statue, non-accession no. 2004.120991.160, Carl Busch Papers and Music Instrument Collection, circa 1833–1924, Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dreyer sculpted a bust of Frank Marvin, founder and dean of the engineering school at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1914. This bronze bust was on a marble pedestal in a corridor of Marvin Hall at KU.Kansas City Star, Vol. 77, Issue 163, p. 3, July 9, 1914. Dreyer was on the faculty of the Dillenbeck School of Expression from 1915 to 1917.Dillenbeck School
"Faculty of Dillenbeck School"
1915. In 1915 Dreyer created a bust of lumber magnate

John Barber White John Barber White (December 8, 1847 – January 5, 1923) was an American lumber businessman. He was one of the founders of the Missouri Lumber and Mining Company, and served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Early life ...

, which is displayed in the main branch of the Kansas City Library, Missouri Valley Special Collections.Lawson, Patricia
"Bust of John Barber White"
1981. Also in 1915 Dreyer made a bust of John Priest Greene, former president of

William Jewell College William Jewell College is a private liberal arts college in Liberty, Missouri. It was founded in 1849 by members of the Missouri Baptist Convention and endowed with $10,000 by William Jewell. It was associated with the Missouri Baptist Conventi ...

. It is on the 2nd floor of Curry Hall of the college at Liberty, Missouri.Kansas City Star, Vol. 35, Issue 260, p. 8, June 4, 1915. In 1916 Dreyer made a bust of Delbert J. Haff which is located near E. Meyer Blvd. and Monroe Ave. in Kansas City. Haff was city Park Commissioner from 1908 to 1912.kcfountains.com
"Haff Fountain"
1916. Although the Haff bust was completed in 1916, it went into storage until former Parks Director Frank Vaydik discovered the sculpture and had it installed in its present location in 1967."Fountains of Kansas City", Sherry Piland and Ellen J. Uguccioni, City of Fountains Foundation (kcfountains.com), 1985. For the

Jensen-Salsbery Laboratories The Jensen-Salsbery Laboratories building in Kansas City, Missouri is a building from 1918. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Two Atlas sculptures representing Biology and Chemistry were created by Kansas City scul ...

, Dreyer sculpted male Atlas figures representing

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and Chemistry in 1918. These figures are on the 3rd floor of the building above the entry doors.Kansas City Veterinary Medical Association
"Jen-Sal Labs"
, July/August 2013.Kansas City Times, p. 38, December 8, 1964. In 1918 Dreyer registered for the draft with the Selective Service (see the 1918 draft card), but did not serve in the war. In 1919 Dreyer was commissioned by the 1919 class of William Jewell College to create a bronze memorial tablet in honor of 16 students who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was in the library and is now in the archives of the college at Liberty, Missouri.Kansas City Star, Vol. 82, Issue 81, p. 6, April 4, 1919. In 1920 Dreyer sculpted two diminutive bakers for the Rushton Baking Company on Southwest Boulevard in Rosedale, a suburb of Kansas City. These figures were given to the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1975. The two sculptures are in the lobby of AIB International. Another form of Dreyer's work was in ornamental statuary for private residences in Kansas City. One example of that form was for the Emory J. Sweeney residence at 5921 Ward Parkway. The Italian-style residence was built in 1918, and the landscape architects Hare and Hare were contracted to add lawn and garden treatments. Hare and Hare asked Dreyer to design two fountains to flank the pool, which were installed in 1922. One was a boy riding a swan, shown in the Gallery below. The other was a girl also riding a swan. The pool was later filled in and the disposition of the statues is unknown. In 1922 Dreyer was commissioned by the Kansas City Park Board to add a lion to a fountain for the Fitzsimons Memorial at 12th and The Paseo. Dreyer was commissioned by the

Order of DeMolay DeMolay International is an international fraternal organization for young men ages 12 to 21. It was founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1919 and named for Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar. DeMolay was incorpora ...

in 1925 to design and execute a Medal of Heroism, "for heroic endeavor". Dreyer's version of this medal was in use by DeMolay from 1926 to 1960.Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch, p. 18, August 18, 1927.Boston (MA) Herald, p. 101, April 24, 1927.

Major sculptures (1925–1939)

South Lioness at Kansas City Life Insurance

Two of Dreyer's most visible sculptures are the pair of lionesses in front of the Kansas City Life Insurance building, located at 3520 Broadway.Kansas City Life Insurance Company
"History of the building"
1998. Dreyer viewed lions at morning and evening hours at the Swope Park Zoo, now named the

Kansas City Zoo The Kansas City Zoo is a zoo founded in 1909. It is located in Swope Park at 6800 Zoo Drive Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. The zoo has a Friends of the Zoo program. It is home to more than 1,300 animals and is an accredited memb ...

, and chose the lioness because it did not have the mane to hide the fluid body lines. He preferred to see the lions moving, as that gave him more visibility into their muscle structures. Flaws were found in the cast of one of the lionesses and had to be re-cast three times. This caused delays in the sculpture schedule, and the building was dedicated in 1924 without the sculptures. The lionesses were carved in pink, black and white

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and were installed on April 6, 1925. In 1925, Dreyer was commissioned by the widow of U.S. Representative William P. Borland to place a bas relief sculpture on the gravestone of Rep. Borland in Elmwood Cemetery, Block C, Lot 137 in Kansas City. The finished marker was unveiled on November 11, 1925.Washington DC Evening Star, p. 58, December 6, 1925. The bas relief is gone, but Dreyer's engraving of Borland's signature remains. Perhaps his largest works are the pair of sphinxes at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City.Kansas City Scottish Rite Temple
"History of the Temple"
2012. Each sphinx weighed 20,000 pounds, and Dreyer put the face of a woman on each. On the back of each sphinx he placed

Masonic symbols Masonic ritual is the scripted words and actions that are spoken or performed during the degree work in a Masonic lodge. Masonic symbolism is that which is used to illustrate the principles which Freemasonry espouses. Masonic ritual has appeared ...

. These were completed in 1928.Kansas City Len
"Photos from Kansas City"
August 19, 2011. In 1931 Dreyer sculpted some marble figures for the Rose Hill Cemetery Mausoleum, and in 1932 he installed a sculpture of the ''Goddess of Dawn'' for the new Hotel Phillips.Van Luchene, Katie
"Kansas City, p. 45"
2004. This sculpture is 11 feet tall, and is located on the second floor landing of the main staircase in the lobby. In 1933 Dreyer was again commissioned by Kansas City Life Insurance to complete a sculpture of Mercury. Dreyer chose to copy the Giambologna "Flying Mercury" at the Bargello National Museum in Florence, Italy (1580), but instead of using the breath of a zephyr to suspend Mercury (per Giambologna), Dreyer used a wave as he did with Goddess of Dawn. Inscribed in the circumference of the pedestal is a quote from Horace, Satires 2.6: "NO MORE I ASK, O SON OF MAIA, BUT THAT YOU MAKE THESE GIFTS MY OWN FOR LIFE". Mercury ("SON OF MAIA") in this context is a bringer of good fortune. Mercury is in the lobby of the main Kansas City Life Insurance building, surrounded by the murals of fellow

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

muralist Daniel MacMorris. In 1935 Dreyer was commissioned to create a medal for the Golden Jubilee of Bishop Thomas F. Lillis of Kansas City. In 1936 Dreyer was awarded a commission for five bronze medallions that are in the lobby of the Jackson County Courthouse. These bronze and

white metal The white metals are a series of often decorative bright metal alloys used as a base for plated silverware, ornaments or novelties, as well as any of several lead-based or tin-based alloys used for things like bearings, jewellery, miniature f ...

medallions represent Faith, Authority, Justice, Aspiration and Progress.Ford, Susan Jezak
"Jackson County Courthouse, p.2"
1999. The

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

commissioned Dreyer in 1939 to create a bust of Major General

.Sedalia (MO) Democrat, p. 10, September 17, 1939. It is in the Visitor Center of the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site in Lexington, Missouri.

Honors

Dreyer was awarded a gold medal in sculpture at the 1912 Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.Kansas City Star, Vol. 33, Issue 18, p. 2, October 5, 1912. Dreyer was made an Honorary Associate of the Kansas City chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

.Kansas City (MO) Times, p. 4, January 31, 1962.

Death and legacy

Dreyer died on November 17, 1948 in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 70. He was cremated at Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City. Dreyer is best known for his monumental sculptures.

Gallery

1908 Dreyer teaching at Fine Arts Institute.png, teaching at Fine Arts Institute, 1908 1912 Sculptor Jorgen Dreyer at work in his studio.png, at work in his studio, 1912 1914 Carl Busch, as sculpted by Jorgen C. Dreyer.jpg, Carl Busch, 1912 1914 Jorgen Dreyer bust of Carl Busch at Sousa Archives.jpg, 2015 image of Carl Busch bust in Sousa Archives, 1912 1914 Dean Frank Marvin, as sculpted by Jorgen C. Dreyer.jpg, Dean Frank Marvin, 1914 1915 John B. White, as sculpted by Jorgen Dreyer.jpg, John B. White, 1915 Bust of John Barber White, Lumber Magnate.JPG, 2015 image of John White bust Bust of John Priest Green, William Jewell College.JPG, 2015 image of John Priest Greene bust, 1915 Bust of Delbert J. Haff, Park Commissioner.JPG, 2015 image of Delbert Haff bust, 1916 1919 Jorgen Dreyer memorial tablet for William Jewell College.jpg, 2015 image of William Jewell College memorial tablet, 1919 1920 diminutive bakers at Rushton Baking Company, as sculpted by Jorgen C. Dreyer.jpg, diminutive bakers, 1920 1920 Jorgen Dreyer sculpture of baker with pie.JPG, 2015 image of baker with pie, 1920 1922 Jorgen Dreyer sculpture of boy on swan.jpg, Boy on a swan, 1922 1922 Jorgen Dreyer sculpture for Fitzsimons Memorial.JPG, Fitzsimons Memorial fountain, 1922 1922 Jorgen Dreyer lion for Fitzsimons Memorial.JPG, Fitzsimons Memorial lion, 1922 Gravestone of Rep. William P. Borland.JPG, 2015 image of William Borland gravestone, 1925 Lionesses at Kansas City Life Insurance.JPG, 2015 image of Lionesses at KCLI, 1925 1927 DeMolay Medal of Heroism, as sculpted by Jorgen C. Dreyer.jpg, DeMolay Medal of Heroism, 1927 Two sphinxes at the Scottish Rite Temple.JPG, 2015 image of Scottish Rite Temple sphinxes, 1930 Rose Hill Mausoleum.JPG, 2015 image of north face of Rose Hill Mausoleum, 1931 1932 Goddess of Dawn, as sculpted by Jorgen C. Dreyer.jpg, 2015 image of Goddess of Dawn, 1932 1933 Jorgen Dreyer sculpture of Mercury.JPG, 2015 image of Mercury, copied from Giambologna, 1933 1933 Jorgen Dreyer sculpture of Mercury torso.JPG, 2015 image of Mercury torso, 1933 1935 Jorgen Dreyer Jubilee medal of Bishop Lillis.jpg, Golden Jubileee medal of Bishop Lillis, 1935 Five Medallions in Jackson County County Courthouse.JPG, 2015 image of Medallions in Jackson County Courthouse, 1936 1939 Jorgen Dreyer right aspect of bust of Gen. Sterling Price.JPG, 2015 image of General Sterling Price, 1939 1948 Jorgen Dreyer obit photo.jpg, obit photo KC Star (age about 30 in photo)

References

External links

The Kansas City Life Insurance Company

The Scottish Rite Temple of Kansas City

The Hotel Phillips

Uncle Jorgen: a Family Tribute
has clippings of above newspaper sources, as well as many more photos. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyer, Jorgen 1877 births 1948 deaths People from Tromsø Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni Norwegian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American sculptors American male sculptors Monumental masons Kansas City Art Institute faculty Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Kansas City, Missouri) 20th-century American male artists