William Rudolf O'Donovan (March 28, 1844April 20, 1920) 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 ...

Biography

O'Donovan was born in

Preston County Preston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 34,216. Its county seat is Kingwood, West Virginia, Kingwood. The county was form ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

(now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

), and taught himself to sculpt. After the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, in which O'Donovan served in the

Confederate army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

, he opened a studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and became well known as a sculptor, especially of memorial pieces. In 1878, O'Donovan become an associate of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

was a favorite subject of his, and he published a series of papers on Washington portraits. During the 1870s and 1880s he collaborated with Maurice J. Power, politician, sculptor and owner of the National Fine Art Foundry producing many works of public art.

Selected works

* Relief portrait of

Bayard Taylor Bayard Taylor (January 11, 1825December 19, 1878) was an American poet, literary critic, translator, travel author, and diplomat. As a poet, he was very popular, with a crowd of more than 4,000 attending a poetry reading once, which was a record ...

(c. 1870), Beinecke Library,

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, New Haven, Connecticut. * Portrait of

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

(c. 1878), bronze. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. * ''

John Paulding John Paulding (October 16, 1758 – February 18, 1818) was an American militiaman from the state of New York during the American Revolution. In 1780, he was one of three men who captured Major John André, a British spy associated with the treas ...

'' (1880), Captors' Monument, Patriot's Park, Tarrytown, New York. * ''Cavalry Officer''; ''Sailor'' (1880–81), Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lawrence, Massachusetts. * Bas-relief panels of ''Herkimer Directing the Oriskany Battle'' and ''Combat'' (1882–84), Oriskany Battlefield Monument, Oriskany, New York. * ''George Washington'' (1883), Plaza Washington, El Paraiso, Caracas, Venezuela. * ''Marie Heimlicher'' (1884), bronze. Smithsonian Institution.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was desig ...

. * ''Colonel Daniel Morgan'' (1885–86), Saratoga Battle Monument,

Saratoga National Historical Park Saratoga National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in the Town of Stillwater in eastern New York, 30 miles north of Albany. The park preserves the site of the Battles of Saratoga. Description The park prese ...

, Victory Mills, New York. *Tower of Victory,

Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site, also called Hasbrouck House, is located in Newburgh, New York overlooking the Hudson River. George Washington lived there while he was in command of the Continental Army during the final year of the A ...

, Newburgh, New York. **''George Washington'' (1886–87). ** Architectural sculptures of ''Rifleman''; ''Artilleryman''; ''Light Dragoon''; and ''Infantry Line Officer'' (1888). * ''Irish Brigade Monument'' (1888),

Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first sho ...

, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A granite Celtic Cross guarded by a life-size bronze statue of an Irish wolfhound. * ''Bust of Walt Whitman'' (1891), unlocated. * ''

Archbishop Hughes John Joseph Hughes (June 24, 1797 – January 3, 1864) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his death in 1864. In ...

'' (1891),

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 ...

, Fordham, New York. *

Trenton Battle Monument The Trenton Battle Monument is a massive column-type structure in the Battle Monument section of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It commemorates the December 26, 1776, Battle of Trenton, a pivotal victory for the Continenta ...

, Trenton, New Jersey. ** ''Colossal Statue of George Washington'' (1891–93). ** ''Private John Russell'' and ''Private Blair McClenachan'' (1891–93), two statues of 14th Regiment Massachusetts soldiers flanking the monument's entrance. **

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...

modeled two bas-relief panels for the monument's base;

Charles Henry Niehaus Charles Henry Niehaus (January 24, 1855 — June 19, 1935), was an American sculptor. Education Niehaus was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German parents. He began working as a marble and wood carver, and then gained entrance to the McMick ...

modeled the third panel. * Bust of

(1892), bronze; unlocated. Exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, 1893, item #154. * Bas-relief panels of ''

President 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 ...

'' and '' General Grant'' (1893–94),

Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch The Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch is a triumphal arch at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York City, just north of Prospect Park. Built from 1889 to 1892, the arch is dedicated "To the Defenders of the Union, 1861–1865". The eastern end with ...

Grand Army Plaza Grand Army Plaza, originally known as Prospect Park Plaza, is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It consists of concentric oval rings arranged as s ...

, Brooklyn, New York.Grant relief
from SIRIS. O'Donovan modeled the men; Thomas Eakins modeled the horses. File:PatriotsParkMemorial-TarrytownNY-01.jpg, ''John Paulding'' (1880), atop the Captors' Monument, Patriot's Park, Tarrytown, New York. File:Soldiers and Sailors Monument - sculpture - Lawrence, MA - DSC03561.JPG, ''Cavalry Officer'' (1880–81), Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lawrence, Massachusetts. File:Soldiers and Sailors Monument - sculpture - Lawrence, MA - DSC03565.JPG, ''Sailor'' (1880–81), Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Lawrence, Massachusetts. File:OriskanyBattlefieldMonument PanelHerkimerDirecting 2007.jpg, ''Herkimer Directing the Oriskany Battle'' (1882–84), Oriskany Battle Monument, Oriskany, New York. File:OriskanyBattlefieldMonument PanelCombat 2007.jpg, ''Combat'' (1882–84), Oriskany Battle Monument, Oriskany, New York. File:Victory Monument.jpg, Tower of Victory (1886–88),

, Newburgh, New York. File:Monument to the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg.jpg, ''Irish Brigade Monument'' (1888),

, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. File:Lincoln bronze.jpg, ''President Lincoln'' (1893–94),

, Brooklyn, New York. File:Grant bronze.jpg, ''General Grant'' (1893–94),

, Brooklyn, New York.

Notes

References

* Virginia Baird Kelly, ''William Rudolf O'Donovan and the Business, Politics, and Art of Sculpture'' (Masters thesis, Syracuse University, 1992).

External links

* Th
William Rudolf O'Donovan Papers
are available for research use at the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

.
''William Rudolf O'Donovan''
on the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, William Rudolf 1844 births 1920 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors