Julius Theodore Melchers (1829–1908) was a German born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and teacher who immigrated to the United States leaving Prussia after 1848 and resided in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

after 1855 .Baulch, Vivian M. (January 31, 1998
Detroit is fertile ground for art
. Michigan History, ''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on June 14, 2008.Ferry, W. Hawkins (1968). ''The Buildings of Detroit: A History''. Wayne State University Press, pp 78-79. During the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...

, he became a "sculptor of great renown in the Detroit area." The Julius T. Melchers House (1897) by Donaldson and Meier is located at 723 Seyburn, in the Indian Village Historic District on which Julius carved the ornate gable. The likelihood that Melchers left Europe, as did so many other in and after the turbulent year of 1848 for political reasons is somewhat supported that he named his son (called, "Gari") after the famous Italian patriot and revolutionary

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

Birth and emigration

Julius Theodore Melchers, was born in Soest,

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

At age fifteen, while still in Prussia, Julius T. Melchers studied carving then studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris with

Carpeaux Carpeaux is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875), French sculptor and painter * Otto Maria Carpeaux Otto Maria Carpeaux (March 9, 1900 – February 3, 1978), born Otto Karpfen, was an Austrian ...

and Étex. Before moving to the United States he worked as a modeler at

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as well as carving ships figureheads.

Children

He had four children: Hettie Melchers, who married Julius Stroh of the Stroh brewing family in June 1883. The couple lived in an Italianate mansion on E. Jefferson Ave across from Van Dyke. His first son,

Gari Melchers Julius Garibaldi Melchers (August 11, 1860 – November 30, 1932) was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of Naturalism (art), naturalism. He won a 1932 Gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Bio ...

, born in 1860, was an artist. Columbia Encyclopedia Sixth Edition (2008
Melchers, Gari
Retrieved on June 14, 2008. His second daughter was Julia Melchers, who married Spencer Otis of Barington, Illinois. His second son was Arthur Carl Melchers, co-founder of the Koppitz-Melchers Brewing Company in Detroit.

Stroh Brewing Company

Julius T. Melchers served as Vice President of B. Stroh Brewing Company.,p. 63. According to Nawrocki and Holleman, Julius T. Melchers was Detroit's first sculptor.Nawrocki, Dennis Alan and Thomas J. Holleman (1980). ''Art in Detroit Public Places''. Wayne State University Press. p. 114.

Bela Hubbard Bela Hubbard (April 23, 1814 – June 13, 1896) was a 19th-century naturalist, geologist, writer, historian, surveyor, explorer, lawyer, real estate dealer, lumberman and civic leader of early Detroit, Michigan. Hubbard is noted as one of the ...

(1814–1896), a lumber baron and real estate mogul, commissioned Julius T. Melchers to carve the "larger than life" sandstone statues of Detroit's four French pioneers, Fr.

Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Igna ...

Sieur de LaSalle Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...

, Antoine Cadillac, and Fr.

Gabriel Richard Gabriel Richard (pronounced rish-ARD) October 15, 1767 – September 13, 1832, was a French Roman Catholic priest who ministered to the French Catholics in the parish of Sainte Anne de Détroit, as well as Protestants and Native Americans liv ...

installed in 1874 on the old

Detroit City Hall The Detroit City Hall was the seat of government for the city of Detroit, Michigan from 1871–1961. The building sat on the west side of Campus Martius bounded by Griswold Street to the west, Michigan Avenue to the north, Woodward Avenue to the ...

(1871). Architect John M. Donaldson had created the model Melchers had used for the statue of Marquette. When the old

was demolished in 1961 the statues were saved and moved to the campus of

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Photo gallery

Image:JMMarquette.jpg, Marquette Image:JMCadillac.jpg, Cadillac Image:JMLaSalle.jpg, LaSalle Image:JMRichard.jpg, Richard

Notes

References

* *Ferry, W. Hawkins (1968). ''The Buildings of Detroit: A History''. Wayne State University Press. * *Nawrocki, Dennis Alan and Thomas J. Holleman (1980). ''Art in Detroit Public Places''. Wayne State University Press.

External links

Gari Melchers Home and Studio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melchers, Julius Theodore German emigrants to the United States Artists from Detroit 1829 births 1908 deaths Sculptors from Michigan German expatriates in France German expatriates in the United Kingdom