![Russin robert](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Russin_robert.jpg)
Robert Isaiah Russin (August 26, 1914 - December 13, 2007) was an American
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 ...
, artist and
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
. He was best known for a number of public sculptures throughout the United States, including the "Spirit of Life"
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
sculpture located at the
City of Hope National Medical Center
City of Hope is a private, not-for-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate school located in Duarte, California, United States. The center's main campus resides on of land adjacent to the boundaries of Duarte and Irwindale, with ...
in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and a giant
bust
Bust commonly refers to:
* A woman's breasts
* Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders
* An arrest
Bust may also refer to:
Places
* Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France
*Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically
Media
* ''Bust'' (magazin ...
of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, the
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument, located on
I-80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
in
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
.
Early life
Robert Russin was born in New York City on August 26, 1914.
[ He received both his ]bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
and master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. from the City College of New York.[ Russin briefly taught at Cooper Union in ]Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. He won two federal sculpture competitions by the age of 25. Inspiration that he found in the state and family health reasons prompted him to move to Wyoming in his mid-thirties. He accepted a teaching position in 1947 at the University of Wyoming.[ Russin remained at UW's Department of Art for nearly 40 years and continued to reside in Wyoming for 60 years.][ He was also the university's artist in residence for nearly 10 years.][ Russin maintained several residences, including one in Centennial, Wyoming;][ in the foothills of the ]Snowy Range
The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range. From the northern end of Colorado's Never Summer ...
and another in Green Valley, Arizona
Green Valley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 22,616 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Green Valley is located along the western side of the Santa Cruz ...
, where he lived during the winter.
Sculpture
Russin was known for his public sculptures, by one account numbering more than 400 worldwide.[ by Hannah West. Casper Star Tribune. August 8, 2008.] His works include bronze figurative sculptures. Russin struck his hammer and chisel to stone, including marble, for abstract expressions.
He won his first major commission in 1938 for two monumental bas-reliefs at the post office in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
. His sculpting skills garnered increased recognition, including a Ford Foundation Fellowship to work in Italy and study the Renaissance masters. The New York native continued to return to Italy during his life to "work on projects in the marble yards and foundries there." Perhaps his best known work is a massive bronze bust
Bust commonly refers to:
* A woman's breasts
* Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders
* An arrest
Bust may also refer to:
Places
* Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France
*Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically
Media
* ''Bust'' (magazin ...
of Abraham Lincoln, called the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument, which was originally dedicated in 1959 at the highest point on the Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...
in Wyoming.[ Other roadside art includes his "The Greeting and the Gift" at the visitors' center south of ]Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
.
Casper, Wyoming is home to other major outdoor works by Russin, including "Fountainhead" (City Hall); "Man and Energy" (Chamber of Commerce); and "Prometheus" (Casper Public Library). Russin also won a commission to create the "Spirit of Life" fountain at the City of Hope National Medical Center
City of Hope is a private, not-for-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate school located in Duarte, California, United States. The center's main campus resides on of land adjacent to the boundaries of Duarte and Irwindale, with ...
in Duarte, California
Duarte () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 21,727. It is bounded to the north by the San Gabriel Mountains, to the north and west by the cities of Bradbury and Monrovia, ...
, which was officially dedicated in 1967.[ The "Spirit of Life", which took Russin a year and a half to create, is cast in bronze.][ The raised sculpture, which depicts two individuals, rests in three ]basins
Basin may refer to:
Geography and geology
* Depression (geology)
** Back-arc basin, a submarine feature associated with island arcs and subduction zones
** Debris basin, designed to prevent damage from debris flow
** Drainage basin (hydrology), a ...
made of a type of Italian marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
called arabascato.[ The "Spirit of Life's"
outer basin is composed of ]travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
.[ Russin also was responsible for the naming of the sculpture.][ The City of Hope National Medical Center now uses the ]silhouette
A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
of the sculpture's statue as its official logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...
and awards the Spirit of Life award to major financial donors.[
Russin's other well known pieces include the "Wyoming Crystal", which stands at the ]Wyoming State Capitol
The Wyoming State Capitol is the state capitol and seat of government of the U.S. state of Wyoming. Built between 1886 and 1890, the capitol is located in Cheyenne and contains the chambers of the Wyoming State Legislature as well as the office ...
, and the "Chthonodynamis", a granite statue which stands at the United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
headquarters in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
[
Other works by Russin are currently housed at the Hyde Park Museum, the University of Wyoming, the ]National Naval Medical Center
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ...
in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
and Gettysburg National Military Park
The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the park is managed by the National Park Service. The GNMP propert ...
in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town.
Gettysburg is home to th ...
.[ A Russin sculpture of three steelworkers dated 1942 adorns the wall in the U.S. Post Office of the former steel mill town of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Known collectors of Russin's include California Senator ]Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...
, Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
, and Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...
.[
The ]University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
campus features many Russin public sculptures, including bas reliefs on a variety of buildings, a life-size sculpture of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
located south of the College of Arts and Sciences, and a sculpture entitled "The University of Wyoming Family" in Prexy's Pasture, a public commons area located between the various colleges of the university.
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument
Robert Russin's massive bust of Abraham Lincoln stands high and rests on a 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 ...
pedestal
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
[ at the Summit Rest Area on Interstate 80 east of Laramie. Russin originally erected the sculpture in 1959 nearby on Sherman Hill overlooking the old U.S. Highway 30 (]Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...
).[ by Phil White. Casper Star Tribune. December 15, 2007.] In 1969, after Interstate 80 was built, state officials moved the monument to become a centerpiece at the Summit Rest Area and Visitor Center between the cities of Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
and Laramie.[
However, the travels of Lincoln's bust began more than a decade earlier and thousands of miles to the south of Sherman Hill and the Summit Rest Area. Russin decided when planning the sculpture that the wild temperatures swings of the Wyoming plains would not provide the stable environment that he needed to craft the Lincoln sculpture. Instead, he turned to ]Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
. Russin built the 4,500-pound bronze bust in Mexico during a period of 11 months using some 10 tons of clay in a lost-wax process of casting.[. Gillete News Record.February 7, 2009.] Russin cast Lincoln's monumental bust in more than 30 bronze pieces designed to be bolted together. He then shipped the sculpture from Mexico to Laramie. The first leg of the 1958 shipment featured rail travel to Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
"The statute iccame up from Mexico with armed guards from the Mexican Army, because they were afraid that someone was going to steal it", said the late sculptor's son, Joe Russin, in an interview for the Laramie Boomerang
The ''Laramie Boomerang'', formerly the ''Laramie Daily Boomerang'', is a newspaper in Laramie, Wyoming, USA.
History
The newspaper was established in March 1881 by American humorist Edgar Wilson ("Bill") Nye, who named the paper after his mule ...
.[ by Garren Stauffer. Laramie Daily Boomerang. Undated.]
The bust continued its journey north from Denver to Laramie by truck transport. All went well until the truck reached Laramie. Joe Russin recalls:
"My dad hadn’t thought about how low the wires were over Grand Avenue. So they had to move it through Laramie really early in the morning and they cut the electric and telephone wires for each block as they went through."
An estimated 200,000 travelers view the monumental sculpture annually.
Death
Robert Russin died in Los Angeles at the age of 93 of kidney disease and hypertension on December 13, 2007.[ He was survived by his three sons: Joseph Russin, the executive editor of KTLA news; Robin U. Russin, a ]screenwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, de ...
professor at the University of California Riverside
The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban dist ...
; and Lincoln David Russin, a radiologist
Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...
.[ Before his death, the sculptor had requested that he be buried near his favorite sculpture, Abraham Lincoln's bust, east of Laramie at the Summit Rest Area and Visitor Center.]
Russin's son, Joe, obtained permission from the Wyoming Department of Transportation Director and Department of Parks and Cultural Resources to construct a small stone cairn near the Lincoln bust to hold the urns of his father, Robert, and mother, Adele. The stone structure features a plaque with the notation:
"The State of Wyoming is proud to honor Robert I. Russin and Adele M. Russin in recognition of their contribution to art, culture and education."
[ Casper Star Tribune. July 19, 2008. ] The family held a memorial service celebrating the sculptor's life in the visitor center, including comments by the Wyoming governor and state senator and ambassador to Guatemala Tom Stroock, according to the ''Casper Star Tribune''.
References
External links
University of Wyoming: Retired UW Art Professor Russin Dies at 93
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russin, Robert
1914 births
2007 deaths
University of Wyoming faculty
Artists from Wyoming
People from Albany County, Wyoming
Artists from New York City
City College of New York alumni
Cooper Union faculty
Deaths from kidney disease
Deaths from hypertension
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century male artists
American male sculptors
Sculptors from New York (state)