Henry Augustus Lukeman (January 28, 1872 – April 3, 1935) was an American sculptor, specializing in historical monuments. Noted among his works are the World War I monument in

Prospect Park, Brooklyn Prospect Park is an urban park in Brooklyn, New York City. The park is situated between the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, and Windsor Terrace, and is adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum, Gra ...

, the

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

Monument in

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

and the

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state o ...

Confederate Memorial in Georgia.

Biography

Early life and education

Henry Augustus Lukeman was born on January 28, 1872, in Richmond, Virginia, Colby, Frank Moore & Talcott Williams, eds. (1915). "Lukeman, Henry Augustus (1870–)". ''New International Encyclopedia'' (2nd ed.), Vol. 14, p. 461, New York: Dodd, Mead, available a

accessed 12 September 2015. and was raised in New York City.David Bernard Dearinger, ed. (2004) ''Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design: 1826-1925 (Volume 1),'' pp. 123f, New York, NY: Hudson Hills, , se

an

accessed 12 September 2015. He is "said to have begun lessons at the National Academy and the Cooper Union School at age eleven," though a National Academy of Design source notes that that school's "registration records do not bear… out" this historical supposition. It is also reported that he began sculpting at age 10 at a boys' club miniature workshop, working in clay and wood from ages 10 to 13. At a young age he became a studio assistant of

Launt Thompson Launt Thompson (February 8, 1833 – September 26, 1894) was an American sculptor. Biography He was born in Abbeyleix, Ireland. Due to the Great Famine occurring in Ireland at the time, he emigrated to the United States in 1847 with his widowe ...

, an Irish-American sculptor and National Academician, and, like Launt, pursued medically related studies (anatomy)—Lukeman at New York's

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

(for two year prior to 1890). He remained with Launt until age 16. There is report, potentially conflicting with other sources regarding his early training, that has him involved in an apprenticeship at the foundry of

Jno. Williams, Inc. Jno. Williams, Inc. was a prominent American foundry. Located in New York City, it was established in 1875, incorporated in 1905, and dissolved in 1956. History The foundry's founder, John Williams, was a former employee of Tiffany & Company. Th ...

until he was 19. Likewise regarding a further report: that Lukeman studied ''

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

'' and architectural modeling for building and exterior decorations for several years, while in the evening studying life drawing (at the Cooper Union in New York). Lukeman is known to have attended classes at the National Academy for Design beginning in 1890, where records exist for his registration for the antique school (for two years), and to have followed this with study at Columbia University. Following that he went to Europe for 6 months and worked under Jean-Alexandre-Joseph Falguiere, at the Beaux Arts, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. When Lukeman returned to New York, he became an assistant to Daniel Chester French, a commitment that would last for a decade and a half, during which time he would also begin to execute his own commissions, eventually opening his own studio in New York. When construction of the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

began in 1893, Lukeman would superintend enlarging some important works for French, for instance, the Statue of the Republic.

American works

Lukeman's independent work began in this new studio, and included the monuments in which he would come to specialize, as well as "portrait busts and statues, bas-reliefs, ornamental sculpture," which have been described as being "architecturally effective and often remarkable in conception." Notable works in New York state from his early independent work include figures for the Customs Building in Columbus, on the Appellate Court House in Manhattan, and on the facade of the

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

.Anon. (1910), "The Museum Statues," in ''The Museum News,'' Vol. 6, no. 3 (December), pp. 34-36, Brooklyn, NY: Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, se

accessed 12 September 2015. A further more complete list of his American and Canadian commissions and other important public sculpture works is given below. A seminal work of Lukeman—proceeding from his earlier work on "several grandiose memorials"—was to complete the execution of the enormously scaled Stone Mountain#Confederate Memorial Carving, Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial. This mountain carving depicted the confederacy's president, Jefferson Davis, and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (and their respective horses Blackjack, Traveller, and Little Sorrel), in

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur. DeKalb County is inclu ...

, near

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

; there, Lukeman designed and supervised sculpting of the monument after removing the earlier work of

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Geo ...

(the original commissionee, who had resigned). David Dearinger notes that "Lukeman was criticized for taking over another artist's work," and that "he used Borglum's existing scheme," though altering it to be a bas-relief whose figures would ultimately be over 150 feet tall. When funding ran out in the advent of the Great Depression, Lukeman would continue to pay the craftsmen until his own means were exhausted, after which the carving would remain incomplete for decades (until

Walker Hancock Walker Kirtland Hancock (June 28, 1901 – December 30, 1998) was an American sculptor and teacher. He created notable monumental sculptures, including the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial (1950–52) at 30th Street Station in Philadel ...

and Roy Faulkner completed an edited version of the Lukeman design in 1970). Located 400 feet (120 m) above ground, and lacking the originally intended legs on the horses, the Lukeman-Hancock-Faulkner sculpture ultimately measured 190 feet (58 m) by 90 feet (27 m), and is recessed 42 feet (13 m). Lukeman died in New York on April 3, 1935, aged 65, leaving his wife, formerly, Helen Bidwell Blodgett.

Honors and awards

Lukeman's work was recognized by the

Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...

, and he was given an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Dickinson College.

Influences, and those influenced

Two significant influences were those whose training he extensively received,

and Daniel Chester French. In addition, Lukeman was known to have kept a small nude study executed by

Kenyon Cox Kenyon Cox (October 27, 1856 – March 17, 1919) was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of the League ...

, one which "Cox considered among his best," and is therefore considered as one of Lukeman's possible artistic influences.

Public sculptures

Dated entries

The following entries, whose dates of execution are known, are ordered according to date, earliest to latest: * Manu, the Law Giver of India, 1899, on the

Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State, First Department (also known as Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York) is a historic court house located at 35 East 25th Street at the corner of Madison Avenue, acro ...

, New York City. * Music (Festival Hall) and another decorative sculpture (Electrical Building), at the

Saint Louis Exposition The Saint Louis Exposition or St. Louis Expo was a series of annual agricultural and technical fairs held in St. Louis' Fairgrounds Park, from the 1850s to 1902. In 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a major World's Fair, was held in St. ...

, 1904, Saint Louis, Missouri; awarded a medal. * The Hebrew Law Giver, Psalmist, Apostle, and Prophet (4 figures, facade), 1907–1909, the

, New York. * The Straus Memorial in Straus Park,

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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, 1915; dedicated to Ida and

Isidor Straus Isidor Straus (February 6, 1845 – April 15, 1912) was a Bavarian-born American Jewish businessman, politician and co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served for just over a year as a member of the United State ...

, who lost their lives on the

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

. * Pulitzer Prize gold medal (with Daniel Chester French), 1918. * The Prospect Park Memorial, 1921, a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

monument, in

. * '' Major General David McMurtrie Gregg'', 1922, Reading, Pennsylvania. * The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, 1923,

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

; refurbished, with presentation, Memorial Day 2010. * Stone Mountain#Confederate Memorial Carving, Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial,

, near

, 1925–1928; preceded in this project by

, and followed by

Fuller E. Callaway, 1929, textile magnate portrait bust, Hills & Dales Estate, LaGrange, Georgia

Undated entries

The following entries, whose dates of execution are unknown, are ordered alphabetically by the subjects surname or place name: * Francis Asbury Equestrian Sculpture, Washington, D.C. * Francis Asbury Statue, Madison, New Jersey. * Daniel Boone bas-relief portrait, Paris, Kentucky. *

Monument in

; figure of Carson; sculptor Frederick Roth executed the horse. * Lieutenant Cushing, on the Dewey Arch, New York, New York. * Customs Building, Columbus, New York. * Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, San Diego, California. * Joseph Henry, professor, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. * Robert Livingston, Saint Louis, Michigan. * President William McKinley Statue, Adams, Massachusetts. * President William McKinley Statue, Toledo, Ohio. * Memorial to the Women of the Confederacy, Raleigh, North Carolina. *

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

Seal. *

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

sculpture, in Buffalo, New York. * James K. Patterson, early president of the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. * President Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire State Capitol, Concord, New Hampshire. * Royal Bank of Canada headquarters, four colossal statues, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. * General William Shepard, Westfield, Massachusetts. * Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Public Square, Watertown, New York. * Soldiers’ Monument, Somerville, Massachusetts. * Elisha Yale, at Gloversville, New York.

References

, as reflected by the inline references to Colby & Williams, (1915), ''New International Encyclopedia'' (2nd ed.), ''op. cit.''