Emory Pius Seidel (May 14, 1881 – April 23, 1954) was a Chicago

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 ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

who created numerous sculptures and paintings that are displayed publicly throughout the United States. He was affiliated with the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. In 1925, he was awarded the John C. Shaffer Prize from the Art Institute of Chicago. His work is considered to be part of the "

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

" style.

Early life and education

Seidel was the third of ten children born to Emeron Michael Seidel and Amelia Wolf and was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He began formal art studies at the age of 10. He studied art under

Ephraim Keyser Ephraim Keyser (October 6, 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland – January 26, 1937) was an American sculptor. Biography He was educated at the City College of Baltimore and studied art in the Maryland Academy of Arts in 1871-72. He went to Munich ...

in the Maryland Institute of Baltimore and also worked under Charles Mulligan of Chicago. He also studied under Wellington J Reynolds.

Move to Chicago

It is not known when he moved to Chicago but he was already there by 1903.

Awards and recognition

E. P. Seidel won the Palette & Chisel Gold Medal award in 1927. He was in the

vicinity show 17 times between 1913–1933, and won the AIC Shaffer prize in 1935, the Worcester prize 1926, and was mentioned in

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860 – October 30, 1936) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Part of the American Renaissance movement, his monumental pieces include, ''Fountain of Time'', ''Spirit of the Great Lakes'', and ''The ...

's ''History of American Sculpture''. He was in the 1939 Art Institute retrospective "50 Years of American Art" exhibit, and he served on the jury of selection for the 1935 "American Painting and Sculpture" exhibit at the Art Institute. Circa 1930, he also had an exhibit with P&C member Carl Krafft, which was described by the gallery as follows:

''To see his tender replicas of children in all their grace and elfin charm is to be at once in sympathy with this artist, enthralled by the blossom like beauty possessed by these mysterious little people. In his modeling of grown up children, we find his hand vigorous in shaping the silken petals into ragged and virile character, the striving and restless human, the youthful breaklance that means to give a good account of himself in the end. His message is written strong in about 15 clay models.''

Personal

Emory married Hildegarde Erbsmehl of Michigan and they had three children, David, Virginia, and Ann.

Works

He completed local commissions for public sculpture—for the

Damen Avenue Damen Avenue is a street in Chicago, where it is 2000 West in the grid. It is west of State Street, the city's north–south baseline. Known as Robey Street for politician James Robey prior to 1927, it was renamed in honor of Father Arnold Dam ...

bridge just north of Fullerton, and for the New York Street Memorial Bridge in Aurora. The Memory Sculptures are part of an entire bridge designed to commemorate the veterans of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1930 Seidel designed the original plans for the bridge. As a period publication stated, using an artist made the bridge “remarkable in its beauty and unique in its design... which will help bring realization that bridges need not be as drab as gas tanks, telephone poles and other things that must be put up with along public thoroughfares.” Dedicated on

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

, November 11, 1931, the New York Street Pershing Memorial Bridge integrates several figures into the concrete structure, two at each end in mirror image, and in niches at the center of the bridge deck. Each statue shows a hooded female figure in a kneeling position, her eyes closed in retrospection. One hand rests on a plain slab in front of her holding a wreath. Her other hand, resting in her lap, clasps a helmet of the World War I dough-boy type. The figures rise 10 feet 6 inches above the sidewalk level, while the folds of their robes flow down the piers, incorporating them into the structure of the bridge. The sculptures are made of aggregate concrete. The allegories' robes flow down to form the pylons of the bridge. In 2001 the Aurora City Council considered approval of a restoration of the art work on the bridge, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. He is also responsible for the bronze relief that is part of the monument dedicated in 1930 in honor of

Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette, Society of Jesus, S.J. (; June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. M ...

next to the

bridge over the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...

's South Branch. The Morgan Memorial in

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Freeport, name of several space stations in the video game ''Freelancer'' (2003) * Freeport, a fictional town in the video game ''SiN'' (1998) * ''Freeport: The Cit ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

is one of the most appreciated attractions of Read Park.

References

External links

Heritage PreservationPatentroom.com
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110606025320/http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/a/n/Manuel-J-Canales/GENE2-0001.html *https://books.google.com/books?id=OxAhAQAAMAAJ&dq=emory%20seidel%20virginia%20inland&pg=PA237 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidel, Emory 1881 births 1954 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American sculptors American male sculptors 20th-century American male artists