Leonard D. Jungwirth (October 18, 1903 –August 21, 1963 or 1964Opitz, Glenn B., Editor, ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers'', Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986) American sculptor born 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 ...

. He studied with his father Joachim Jungwirth, a Detroit wood carver. His formal education was furthered at the School of Fine Arts and

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 ...

(B.A., 1927) both in Detroit. He spent 1929 through 1933 studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. He returned to Detroit, where he taught at Wayne State from 1936 to 1940. During some of that period, he also served as a supervisor in the WPA's

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

, for whom he created several works, notably a statue of

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 ...

located at the entrance to the Belle Isle Bridge. In 1940 he moved to

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, where he was employed at what is now

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. He remained there until his death in 1963. While there he created his (arguably) best-known work, '' The Spartan''. Jungwirth also made the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

for St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jungwirth, Leonard 1903 births 1963 deaths Artists from Detroit Wayne State University alumni Wayne State University faculty Michigan State University faculty Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Federal Art Project artists