Samuel James Kitson (January 1, 1848November 9, 1906) was a British-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 ...

active in the United States from about 1876 to 1906. He maintained studios in New York City and Boston. Many of his works were religious in nature, and he also completed a number of busts of prominent Americans. His work, mostly in

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 ...

, consisted of full-body

statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

, head and shoulder portraits, and

friezes In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

. After the death of his older brother John William Kitson, he became more active in his Boston studio where his younger brother

Henry Hudson Kitson Henry Hudson Kitson (April 9, 1863, 1864 or 1865 – June 26, 1947) was an English-American sculptor who sculpted many representations of American military heroes. Romania's Queen Elisabeth knighted him after he sculpted a marble bust of h ...

joined him.

Early life and education

Kitson was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence i ...

, West Yorkshire, England, on January 1, 1848. His brothers were John William Kitson and

, who both became sculptors. He studied at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

in Rome from 1870 to 1873 and received an award for his sculpture there. After completing his studies, in the mid-1870s he established a studio in Italy. He remained in Rome for ten years.

Career

In 1878, Kitson spent about one year in both New York and Boston, where he began to receive private commissions. His first commission was a full bust of

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull ...

whose Boston home was next door to that of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

. Kitson returned to his Italian studio to complete these commissioned works in marble. In 1881 he returned the United States, whereupon he was commissioned to execute statuary and architectural elements for the

William K. Vanderbilt House The William K. Vanderbilt House, also known as the Petit Chateau, was a Châteauesque mansion at 660 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street. It was across the street from the Tri ...

. He moved to the United States permanently that year. Prior to moving permanently to the United States, Kitson continued exhibiting in England. His works ''Rebecca at the Well'' (1874) and ''Isaac'' (1875) were exhibited at the

Royal Manchester Institution The Royal Manchester Institution (RMI) was an English learned society founded on 1 October 1823 at a public meeting held in the Exchange Room by Manchester merchants, local artists and others keen to dispel the image of Manchester as a city lack ...

. Between 1877 and 1880, Kitson exhibited three times at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Kitson became a naturalized American in 1893. He married Anne Meredith Kitson, originally of

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...

, in 1884. Kitson was a convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He died on November 9, 1906 in New York City. As of his death, he lived at 23 West 67th Street, in Manhattan's Lincoln Square neighborhood.

Works

While most of Kitson's work was not as public as his younger brother

it is quite extensive. Some of his works are as follows: * Most of the statuary of the

, New York City * North frieze of the

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut, honors the 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the American Civil War, including 400 who died for the Union cause. It is notable as the first permanent triumphal ...

Bushnell Park Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the oldest publicly funded park in the United States. It was conceived by the Reverend Horace Bushnell in the mid-1850s at a time when the need for open public spaces was just starting to be recognize ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

* Bust of

(1879), located at the

Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site The Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site (also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House and, until December 2010, Longfellow National Historic Site) is a historic site located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge ...

* Bust of

Phillip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close a ...

, located just below Arlington House in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

* Bust of Frederic T. Greenhalge (1895) * Bronze bust of

Orestes Brownson Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer. Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with ...

(), now located at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...

*''Christ, the Light of the World'' () presented by cardinal John Murphy Farley to St. Joseph's Seminary, in memory of archbishop Joseph M. Corrigan

Notes

External links

* Sculptures by Kitson at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

: *
''Rebecca''
(1874) *
''Instruct the Ignorant''
(1880) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, Samuel 1848 births 1906 deaths 20th-century American sculptors Artists of the Boston Public Library Neoclassical sculptors People from Huddersfield People from the Upper West Side British emigrants to the United States 21st-century American sculptors