Heinz Warneke
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Heinrich Johann Dietrich "Heinz" Warneke (June 30, 1895 – 1983) was a German-born American sculptor, best remembered as an
animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...
, or sculptor of animals. His role in the
direct carving This page describe terms and jargon related to sculpture and sculpting. __NOTOC__ A armature :An armature is an internal frame or skeleton which supports a modelled sculpture. A typical armature for a small sculpture is made of heavy gauge ...
movement "assured him a place in the annals of 20th-century American sculpture." Warneke created a large number of works for the
National Cathedral National Cathedral may refer to: * Iglesia Filipina Independiente National Cathedral, a cathedral of the Philippine Independent Church in Manila * National Cathedral of Ghana, a planned interdenominational cathedral in Accra * National Cathedral ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
These include the ''Last Supper Tympanum'' over the South Portal, the Saint Alban trumeau figure, and more than ninety minor works: sculpted column capitals, bosses,
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...
s,
keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...
, heads, flowers, etc. ''The Prodigal Son'' (1932-39), one of his most touching sculptures, is located in the Bishop's Garden. Warneke's works are in the collections of American art museums, including the
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; 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 one of the world's lar ...
, 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 ...
, the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, and the
Chrysler Museum of Art The Chrysler Museum of Art is an art museum on the border between downtown and the Ghent district of Norfolk, Virginia. The museum was founded in 1933 as the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. In 1971, automotive heir, Walter P. Chrysler Jr ...
. His animal sculptures are in the National Zoo and the
Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...
, and in sculpture gardens such as
Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zo ...
. Warneke's most famous work is the ''
Nittany Lion The Nittany Lion is the eastern mountain lion mascot of the athletic teams of the Pennsylvania State University, known as the Penn State Nittany Lions. Created in 1907, the "Nittany" forename refers to the local Mount Nittany, which overlooks ...
'' (1942) at
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
.


Life and Career

Warneke was born in Hagen bei Leeste, a small village near
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
, Germany. He studied at the
Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany, where his teachers included
Karl Blossfeldt Karl Blossfeldt (13 June 18659 December 1932) was a German photographer and sculptor. He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things, published in 1929 as ''Urformen der Kunst''. He was inspired, as was his father, by n ...
.Cunningham, Mary Mullen, ''Heinz Warneke (1895–1983): A Sculptor First and Last'', University of Delaware Press, Newark, DE, 1994. Warneke served in the German Army, but was a non-combatant in
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 ...
—managing a cemetery in Bucharest, Romania from 1914 to 1918. He oversaw the mostly-Turkish prisoners of war who were brought in to dig graves and carve headstones. In 1923, Warneke emigrated to the United States at New York City, and settled in St. Louis, Missouri.


United States

Warneke had his first American exhibition at the St. Louis Public Library, in December 1923.Jackie R. Esposito and Steven L. Herb, ''The Nittany Lion: An Illustrated Tale'' (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997) The works were small-scale animal figures, that the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' pronounced "extraordinary." According to a 1935 biographical sketch published by the U.S. Treasury Department: “His first work in America was a large stone eagle, 48 feet across the façade of the Masonic Temple in Fort Scott, Kansas.”“The Winners: Biographical Notes on the Sculptors and Painters who won the Competition for Statues and Murals to be placed in The Post Office Department,” ''Section of Painting and Sculpture, Public Works Branch, Procurement Division, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., Bulletin Number 6'' (October-November 1935), p. 10. From 1927 to 1930, Warneke lived in Paris, where he created social-realist, art-deco, and primitivist sculptures. He became a naturalized citizen after returning to the U.S. in 1930, and undertook multiple commissions for the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
. Warneke operated his own art school in New York City, 1940-42.David W. Look, AIA, and Carole L. Perrault, ''The Interior Building: Its Architecture and It’s Art'' (U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Preservation Assistance Division, 1986.), pp. 121-22. After winning first prize at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...
's 1943 Artists Annual Show in Washington, D.C., he became head of sculpture at the Corcoran's school. From 1943 to 1968, he taught at both the Corcoran school and
George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
, also in Washington, D.C.


Method

In addition to carving in traditional media, such as wood, stone and ivory, Warneke carved in unusual media, such as iron, brass and aluminum, and even common brick. Photographs of his carved brick sculptures illustrate Richard F. Bach’s 1928 article, “Our Industrial Art: Manufacture and Mechano-facture,” in the ''Journal of the American Institute of Architects''.
With all of the brass and iron models, Mr. Warneke explains, the method of working is the same. First a rough plaster cast is given to the foundry. When a crude sketch in brass is returned to the artist he begins to carve it, first simplifying the larger planes, and then, with tools finer than the rasp or large file used before, modeling the ultimate surface. It is actually a work of carving, for the first rough block is merely a larger, vaguer piece of metal, yet is better adapted to the speed of the work than a square chunk would be.
Warneke created works of unprecedented scale and weight, such as his life-sized ''African Elephant and Calf'' (1962) for the Philadelphia Zoo.Janet Ruth Falon, "Acres of Art in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park," ''The Washington Post'', April 6, 1986.


Personal

Warneke emigrated to the United States in 1923, and lived with friends of relatives in the large German-American community in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. Edward T. Hall, one of Warneke's first benefactors, was an executive at
Purina Mills Purina Mills, LLC is the farm animal feeds unit of Land O' Lakes. It was previously part of Ralston Purina, until the U.S. animal feeds portion was first sold in 1986. History Purina traces its roots back to 1894, when founder William H. Dan ...
(pet & livestock food) in St. Louis, and commissioned him to create animal sculptures as prizes for a company contest. Warneke met and fell in love with Hall's wife, painter Jessie Gilroy Hall. She eventually divorced her husband, and married Warneke in March 1927. Twelve-year-old
Edward T. Hall Edward Twitchell Hall Jr. (May 16, 1914 – July 20, 2009) was an American anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher. He is remembered for developing the concept of proxemics and exploring cultural and social cohesion, and describing how p ...
Jr. remained with his father, while five-year-old Priscilla Hall went with her mother. The Warnekes moved to Paris—"it is clear that leaving the country also helped put Saint Louis and the scandal of Jessie's divorce far behind them." They had returned to the United States and were living in New York City in 1930, when he became a naturalized American citizen. During the 1930s, Warneke’s studio was at No. 12 Washington Mews, one street north of Washington Square Park.New York University, ''Greenwich Village Artists'' (self-guided walking tour), Grey Art Museum, (year). In 1931, the Warnekes purchased a farm in
East Haddam, Connecticut East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 8,875 at the time of the 2020 census. History Until 1650, the area of East Hadd ...
, that the couple would own for the rest of their lives. After giving up his New York City studio, Warneke converted the farm's barn into his studio, 1940.Creative Places: Arts & Letters in 20th Century Connecticut
Heinz Warneke
/ref> He later maintained a residence in Washington, D.C. during the decades that he was teaching there. Following 55 years of marriage, Jessie Gilroy Warneke died in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1982. Warneke's final sculpture was their shared grave marker—"The image on the stone is of the two of them planting a tree together."Robert Hubbard and Kathleen Hubbard, ''Hidden History of Middlesex County, Connecticut'' (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2018), p. 125. Heinz Warneke died of a heart attack on August 16, 1983, in a retirement home in Madison, Connecticut."Heinz Warneke, Ex-Chief At Corcoran, Dies" ''The Washington Post'', August 17, 1983.


Works


Harlem River Houses

Public housing in New York City was segregated by race into the 1950s. Warneke created sculpture for the
Harlem River Houses The Harlem River Houses is a New York City Housing Authority public housing complex between 151st Street, 153rd Street, Macombs Place, and the Harlem River Drive in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The complex, which cov ...
, part of an effort by the Federal Government to provide high-quality urban housing for working-class Blacks. Design critic for ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'',
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a ...
, praised the results:
e trees set about the ample open spaces in the fashion of the Luxembourg Garden; and the handsome sculpture by Heinz Warneke, the penguins round about the central wading pool and the wrestling bears on the east side of Seventh Avenue. The gracious austerity of the architecture magnifies the importance of each variation, and the sculpture is “functional” in a practical as well as an aesthetic sense, since the cast stone which composes it will be improved in finish by being handled and climbed over by children. ... Here in short, is the equipment for decent living that every modern neighborhood needs: sunlight, air, safety, play space, meeting space, and living space.
Warneke's two larger-than-life kneeling-figure sculptures were unexpectedly controversial. The male figure depicted a shirtless man with a sledgehammer; the female figure depicted a woman holding a baby and accompanied by a dog. The committee representing the future tenants "considered Warneke's portrayal of a black man as a laborer degrading." The statues' names also reinforced stereotypes, and were changed: ''Man, the Provider'' became ''Black Worker'', and then ''Young Man''. ''Woman, the Mother and Housekeeper''—which was captioned "Colored Concrete Statue ''Motherhood''" in a 1941 photograph—was changed to ''Negro Mother and Child'', and then ''Mother and Child''. Warneke's other cast-stone sculptures at the site were two examples of ''Tussling Bears'', one in the West Courtyard and the other in the River Courtyard, and four examples of ''Penguin'', which ringed the wading pool in the Central Courtyard. In a 1979 photograph accompanying 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 ...
nomination form, only one of the four ''Penguin'' sculptures was intact; another was headless, and the other two were missing or had been removed. In a 2024 restoration of the Central Courtyard, the wading pool was restored (without sculpture), and the ''Mother and Child'' kneeling figure was removed.


Nittany Lion

The Nittany Lion has been Penn State's mascot since 1907. Thanks to advocacy in the student newspaper, momentum for a Nittany Lion statue was growing in the Fall of 1939. Fine Arts instructor Francis E. Hyslop wrote to three sculptors inquiring about their interest in the potential project. On April 22, 1940, the outgoing Class of 1940 voted to make the Nittany Lion sculpture their class gift, and $5,340 was raised for it. The committee for the project was formed in February 1941, and Warneke, the only one of the three sculptors still involved, submitted models in six different poses in April. His favorite pose was unanimously approved, and the terms of his contract were negotiated over several weeks. His selection as sculptor was announced in August 1941: “The
Pennsylvania State College The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855 as Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Pe ...
has just commissioned Heinz Warneke, American sculptor ... to carve a lion out of Indiana limestone on the campus at Penn State." Painter
Henry Varnum Poor Henry Varnum Poor (December 8, 1812 – January 4, 1905) was an American financial analyst and founder of H.V. and H.W. Poor Co, which later evolved into the financial research and analysis bellwether, Standard & Poor's. Biography Born in East ...
had painted murals for a Penn State building, and turned his work process into a weeks-long interactive dialogue with students. Warneke agreed to do the same, to carve the figure outdoors and in place the following summer. A 13-ton block of Indiana limestone was trucked up to the top of Burrowes Road in June 1942, and deposited on the selected site. Using Warneke's full-sized plaster model, his assistant, stonecutter Joseph Garatti, roughed out the figure in three dimensions. Warneke spent the next four months finish-carving the figure on site. The
Nittany Lion Shrine The Nittany Lion Shrine is a large mountain lion sculpture carved by Heinz Warneke located at the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University. History 20th century The Nittany Lion Shrine at Pennsyl ...
was dedicated on October 24, 1942, during halftime of the football game against
Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...
. Penn State won the game. “The lion’s right ear was defaced in 1978 when vandals used some sort of blunt instrument to chip it off the statue. Warneke returned to the university at the age of 84 to sculpt a replacement.” Warneke's 8.5-inch-long (11.1 cm.) terracotta model for the ''Nittany Lion'' is in the
Palmer Museum of Art The Palmer Museum of Art is the art museum of Pennsylvania State University, located on the University Park campus in State College, Pennsylvania. Collections The museum has an increasing permanent collection of nearly 11,000 works. The colle ...
at Penn State.


Washington National Cathedral

Warneke's relationship with
Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...
began in the 1950s, when he participated in a limited competition among invited sculptors to design the tympanum for the South Portal.The Last Supper
from SIRIS.
His winning entry featured a tableau of ''
The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, '' The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic, 700 x 880 cm (22.9 x 28.8 ...
''—with Christ standing before a perspective-distorted curving table of seated disciples—and a three-panel frieze of '' The Road to Emmaus''.
Roger Morigi Roger (Ruggiero) Morigi (4 October 1907 – 12 January 1995) was an Italian-born American stone carver and architectural sculptor. He made major contributions to Washington National Cathedral and other buildings in Washington, D.C. He was the ...
(with Edward H. Ratti) carved the 17-foot-tall limestone tympanum ''
in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...
'' from scaffolding. Warneke modeled his ''Saint Alban''
trumeau A trumeau is the central pillar or mullion supporting the tympanum of a large doorway, commonly found in medieval buildings. An architectural feature, it is often sculpted. Monolithic or paired, it becomes sculpted or decorated in Romanesque arc ...
figure (1959-1961) for the pier below the tympanum, and Morigi carved it in limestone.St. Alban
from SIRIS.
Warneke also modeled and Morigi carved a work in memory of Joseph Ratti, one of the cathedral's stonecarvers, who died in a 1955 fall from scaffolding. Located in the stairway of the south transept, the memorial depicts Ratti carving a never-to-be-finished gargoyle.Wendy True Gasch, ''Guide to Gargoyles and Other Grotesques'' (Washington National Cathedral, 2003). In 1961, Coleman Jennings purchased Warneke's ''The Prodigal Son'' for $10,000, and donated it to the Cathedral in memory of his parents. The sculpture was placed in the Bishop's Garden. The following year, Warneke modeled two keystones and thirty-one bosses for the Cathedral's interior. In 1963, Dean of the Cathedral Francis B. Sayre Jr. commissioned Warneke to create figural groups of Native Americans as capitals for the five columns that surround the Cathedral’s Garth. Sayre was a step-grandson of former-First Lady
Edith Wilson Edith Wilson ( Bolling, formerly Galt; October 15, 1872 – December 28, 1961) was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 as the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his firs ...
, and he wished to honor her Native American heritage. Warneke's groups represent peoples of the Pacific Northwest, The Arctic, The Northeast, The Great Plains, and The Southwest.Kevin Eckstrom, “Celebrating Native American Heritage Month,” Cathedral Connects blog, November 3, 2023.
/ref>


African Elephant and Calf

In November 1958, Warneke was invited by the Fairmount Park Commission to participate in a competition among six sculptors to create an animal sculpture for the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens. His winning submission was a life-sized mother elephant and her newborn calf depicted in a tender moment—preparing to nurse for the first time:Jessie Donahue and Erik Trump, ''Political Animals: Public Art in American Zoos and Aquariums'' (Landham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007) "I want to create a statue that will speak forever of how touching, how funny, how gorgeous motherhood is, even in such an awkward and huge beast as an elephant." Warneke intended for the work to be carved from a single block of granite, but he was unable to find an American quarry that could provide a block large enough. He learned that gray granite from
Bergen, Norway Bergen (, ) is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 2025 the population is 294 029 according to Statistics Norway. The municipali ...
would closely match the color of an elephant's hide, but carving the work in a foreign country and shipping it back to the U.S. would exceed the project's $37,000 budget. Members of the Park Commission demonstrated their support for Warneke by making donations that doubled his budget. Utilizing Warneke's full-size plaster model, the sculpture was rough-carved in Oslo by Norwegian stonecutters, who removed tens of tons of waste stone. The process took more than a year, and Warneke made minor changes as problems arose.
U.S. sculptor Heinz Warneke is in Oslo supervising work on a huge sculpture, depicting a mother elephant and her baby, for the zoo in Philadelphia, Pa. Hewn from a 60-ton block of Norwegian granite, it is being carved by A/L Steinskulptur.""News in Brief," ''News of Norway'', September 13, 1962, p. 120.
When completed, the rough-carved sculpture was hoisted onto a freighter and shipped to the United States. It was unloaded at the docks in
South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...
. On October 22, 1962, the sculpture was hoisted onto the bed of a tractor-trailer, which slowly drove it up Broad Street, the city's main north-south artery, and delivered it to the zoo in
West Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...
. “The arrival of ''Elephant and her Calf'' by Heinz Werneke in 1962 was greeted with as much fanfare as a new live specimen.” Warneke resumed his finish-carving of the sculpture at the zoo. ''African Elephant and Calf'' was dedicated seven months after its arrival, on May 25, 1963. The zoo brought out a young elephant and a calf to be photographed with the sculpture, and with the sculptor.
LIFE Magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...
covered the event:
Last week in Philadelphia nature was busy imitating art – or vice versa. For a moment it was hard to tell which was which when some residents of the local zoo paused to look over the new tenants in Fairmount Park. But nature gave it away; her elephants moved. Art’s stayed put for they had been carved from a solid block of granite."Zoo Puts on a Mammoth Match-up,"
''LIFE Magazine'', June 7, 1963, p. 40b. Scroll down to pages 45 & 48 to see photos of the block of granite, the wooden armatures that supported the clay models, and the near-finished sculpture being hoisted onto the freighter in Oslo.
According to a trade journal: "This is the largest monolithic, free-standing granite sculpture in the United States."


Recognition


Exhibitions

While living in Paris in the late-1920s, Warneke exhibited at the
Salon des Tuileries The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painters Albert Besnard and Bessie Davidson, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others. The first year's ...
. He exhibited five works at the ''Art Institute of Chicago'' in 1927, including ''Rearing Horse'' that was illustrated in the catalogue (as ''Prancing Percheron''). Warneke exhibited semi-regularly at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...
in Philadelphia, fourteen times between 1928 and 1958. He exhibited sporadically at 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, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
in New York City, four times between 1935 and 1949.Peter Hastings Falk, ed. ''The Annual Exhibition Record of the National Academy of Design, 1901-1950'' (Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1990) pp. 526-527. He exhibited relatively frequently at the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
in
Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...
, eleven times between 1936 and 1952. Warneke loaned ''The Prodigal Son'' to the Whitney Museum's 1939 Annual Exhibition in January and February; then loaned it from April to October to the
1939 World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activities ...
in
Queens, New York City Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
. He loaned ''Pelicans: Contentment in the Sun'' (1928) to the
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 member ...
's 7-month Annual Exhibition, April to October 1939, at the
California Palace of the Legion of Honor The Legion of Honor, formally known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, is an art museum located in San Francisco, on the West Side of the city. Located in Lincoln Park, the Legion of Honor is a component of the Fine Arts Museum ...
in San Francisco. Warneke loaned four works to the
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
's 5-month exhibition, ''Sculpture International 1940''—''Tussling Bears'' (1936, plaster), ''New-Born Deer'' (1925), ''Orang Outang Thinking'' (1933), and ''The Prodigal Son'' (1932-39). He loaned the 1931 version of ''Wild Boars'' to the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
's July 1941 exhibition, ''Animals in Art: Designing a Stage Setting''. The
Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...
in Washington, D.C. hosted a "Special Exhibition of Sculpture by Heinz Warneke," December 1, 1942 to January 1, 1943. Werneke loaned ''The Prodigal Son'' (1932-39) to MoMA's 1943 exhibition, ''Art in Progress'', celebrating the 15th anniversary of the museum's founding. MoMA placed the work in the sculpture garden, where it remained for several years. Religion columnist Walter L. Nathan saw ''The Prodigal Son'' at MoMA in 1946, and wrote movingly about it. The Lyman Allyn Museum in
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
hosted a retrospective exhibition of Warneke's work, November 11, 1956 to December 2, 1956. The Corcoran Gallery hosted a retrospective exhibition of Warneke work, February 7 to March 3, 1957. The
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. hosted "Heinz Warneke Looks Back: An Exhibition of the Artist's Personal Selection of His Sculpture," November 30 - December 19, 1967. Included (and for sale) were plaster models for several of the works he sculpted for Washington National Cathedral.


Awards

In 1924, the St. Louis Artists’ Guild awarded Warneke an Honorable Mention for ''Maiden and Faun''. The following year, the Guild awarded him its First Prize and Medal for ''New-Born Deer'' (1925). 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 ...
awarded Warneke its 1930 Logan Medal and $2,500 purchase prize for ''The Water Carrier'' (1927)."Sculptor Wins First Prize at Chicago's Annual Exhibition,"
''Art Digest'', vol. 5, no. 3, (November 1, 1930), cover.
PAFA awarded Warneke its 1935 Widener Gold Medal for the 1931 version of ''Wild Boars''. The Society of Washington Artists awarded Warneke its 1943 First Prize for ''New-Born Deer'' (1925).The Society of Washington Artists, ''Fifty-Second Annual Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 23 to February 14, 1943'', p.16.


Honors

Warneke was elected a member of the
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 member ...
in 1936. The Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, Connecticut, elected him a member in 1937. 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, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
elected Warneke an Associate member in 1939, and an Academician in 1966.
Ivan Olinsky Ivan Gregorewitch Olinsky (1 January 1878 – 11 February 1962) was a Russian-born American painter and art instructor. Biography Olinsky was born in Yelisavetgrad , Russian Empire (now Kirovohrad, Ukraine). After immigrating to the United St ...
painted his NAD diploma portrait. What is now the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
elected him a member in 1953. Warneke was one of the three American sculptors selected to judge the 1938 national competition to design the
Jefferson nickel The Jefferson nickel has been the nickel (United States coin), five-cent coin struck by the United States Mint since 1938, when it replaced the Buffalo nickel. From 1938 until 2004, the copper-nickel coin's Obverse and reverse, obverse featured ...
, (
Sidney Waugh Sidney Waugh (January 17, 1904 – June 30, 1963) was an American sculptor known for his monuments, medals, etched and moulded glass, and architectural sculpture. Waugh was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. His father, Frank Waugh, was a land ...
and Albert Stewart were the others). He was one of the three judges for the 1939 first round of the national competition to design a ''Thomas Jefferson'' statue for the
Jefferson Memorial The Jefferson Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C., built in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the American Revolution, a fou ...
. Architect Henri Gabriel Marceau, sculptor James Earle Fraser, and Warneke whittled the list of 101 applicants down to 6 semi-finalists. From these, the ''Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission'' selected 3 finalists in the 1940 second round; and in the 1941 final round chose
Rudulph Evans Rudulph Evans (February 1, 1878 – January 16, 1960) was a sculptor. Early life and education Evans was born February 1, 1878, in Washington, D.C., to Frank L. Evans, the descendant of a Quaker family, and Elizabeth J. Grimes, the daughter o ...
the winner. The
Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...
recorded a 1982 interview with Warneke, conducted by Robert Brown.Oral History interview with Heinze Warneke
from Archives of American Art.
Heinz Warneke's papers are housed at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
. Family papers are at the East Haddam Historical Society & Museum in
East Haddam, Connecticut East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 8,875 at the time of the 2020 census. History Until 1650, the area of East Hadd ...
. The historical society built a new wing to house its collection of Warneke's sculptures.


List of works


Animalia

* ''Rearing Stallion'' (''Prancing Pergeron'') (1922, African wood), unlocated. Exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1927. ** Harneke carved two replicas, one in ebony and the other in oak. * ''Hissing Geese'' (1926), Art Institute of Chicago * ''Elegance'' (1927, marble),
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; 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 one of the world's lar ...
, Washington, D.C. The subject is a seated cat. * ''Pelicans: Contentment in the Sun'' (1927), Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk Virginia * ''Colt'' (1928, polished brass),
Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zo ...
, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina * ''Mother Goat and Kids'' (1929), National Academy of Design, Manhattan, New York City * ''Wild Boars'' (1929, Belgian marble), Art Institute of Chicago, height: 12.5 inches. ** ''Wild Boars'' (1931, Belgian marble), Smithsonian American Art Museum, height: 18.75 inches. Warneke carved this second version with dimensions 50% larger than the original. A 1993 bequest to SAAM from Warneke's Estate. * ''Orang Outang Thinking'' (1933, marble),
Addison Gallery of American Art Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario, a community United States * Addison, Alabama, a town * Addison, Illinois, a village * Addison, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Addison, Maine, a town * Addison, Michigan, a vil ...
, Andover, Massachusetts * ''Tussling Bears'', aka ''Wrestling Bears'', ''Tumbling Bears'' (1936, red granite), National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. ** ''Tussling Bears'' (1936, cast stone),
Harlem River Houses The Harlem River Houses is a New York City Housing Authority public housing complex between 151st Street, 153rd Street, Macombs Place, and the Harlem River Drive in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The complex, which cov ...
,
Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...
. Two replicas in cast stone. ** ''Tussling Bears'' (1936, posthumous 1989 cast, bronze), K. T. Murphy Elementary School, Stamford, Connecticut * ''Penguin'' (1938, cast stone), Harlem River Houses, Manhattan, New York CityPenguin, for Harlem Housing Project
from SIRIS.
* ''
Nittany Lion Shrine The Nittany Lion Shrine is a large mountain lion sculpture carved by Heinz Warneke located at the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University. History 20th century The Nittany Lion Shrine at Pennsyl ...
'' (1942),
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
,
State College, Pennsylvania State College is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park ...
** 3/4-size versions of Warneke's ''Nittany Lion'' are located on many of Penn State's satellite campuses. * ''New-Born Deer'' (1943, brass). Awarded First Prize by the Society of Washington Artists in 1943. * ''World War II Eagle'' (1946, fieldstone). War memorial opposite Lyme Town Hall, Lyme, Connecticut * ''African Elephant and Calf'' (1962, Bergen granite),
Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.African Elephant and Calf
from SIRIS.
Dedicated May 25, 1963 * ''Wildcat'' (1967-68, bronze),
Owen J. Roberts High School Owen J. Roberts High School is a high school in the Owen J. Roberts School District. It is located in Bucktown, in South Coventry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It has a Pottstown postal addre ...
, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Created in collaboration with Don Turano, Warneke's former student at the Corcoran Gallery of Art School. Dedicated 1969 * ''Altoona Mountain Lion'' (1972, cast copper),
Altoona Area High School Altoona Area High School (AAHS) is the public high school for the Altoona Area School District in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The high school serves the communities of Altoona, Logan Township, and a small portion of Tyrone Township. The school di ...
, Altoona, Pennsylvania. Dedicated May 7, 1972


Figural works

* ''Juan Pino, Tesuque Indian'' (1925, bronze), New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, gift of Mr. & Mrs. Edward T. Hall * ''The Boxer'' (1926, bronze), height: 19 in. (48.3 cm.), signed: H. Warneke * ''Peasant Mother and Babe'' (1928, teakwood), unlocated. “Warneke’s PEASANT MOTHER AND BABE, carved in teakwood, is similar in feeling, but is unlike much of his recent sculpture … The larger masses, monumental in their proportions, as Warneke models them, are perfectly articulated. In the form of the mother they are imposing, and irresistibly lovely in the nursing child.” * ''The Water Carrier'' (1928-29, marble), ex coll. Art Institute of Chicago, unlocated. Winner of the 1930 Logan Medal and $2,500 purchase prize from the Art Institute of Chicago. * ''The Prodigal Son'' (1932-39, granite), Bishop's Garden,
Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...
, Washington, D.C. Purchased by Coleman Jennings in 1961, who donated it to the Cathedral in memory of his parents. * ''Portrait of Judge John Bassett Moore'' (1933, terra-cotta), head and bust, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, Virginia. Exhibited at Whitney Museum of American Art, April-May, 1940. * ''The Immigrant'' (1933),
Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial The Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial is a sculpture garden located in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The garden, located along the left bank of the Schuylkill River between Boathouse Row and the Girard Avenue Bridge, ...
, East
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...
,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
* ''Express Mail Carrier'' (1936, carved aluminum), Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C. ** ''Express Mail Carrier'' (1936, painted plaster), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Warneke donated his painted plaster version to SAAM in 1980. ** ''Express Mail Carrier'' (1982, cast aluminum),
Railroaders Memorial Museum The Railroaders Memorial Museum (RMM) is a railroad museum in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The museum focuses on the history of railroad workers and railroad communities in central Pennsylvania, particularly Altoona, the Altoona Works, and the grea ...
, Altoona, Pennsylvania. Cast by the
Modern Art Foundry The Modern Art Foundry is an historic foundry in Astoria, Queens, New York, founded in 1932 by John Spring. His descendants continue to operate the business in what used to be the carriage house of the Steinway Mansion. Modern Art Foundry special ...
, with permission of the artist, as a gift to the museum. Dedicated April 3, 1982 * ''Liberty Panel'' (1936, carved aluminum), Elevator Lobby, Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C. Three pairs of hands, shackled to a heavy chain (Nazism?), reach out to the Liberty Bell. * ''Young Man'' (1937, cast stone), Harlem River Houses, Manhattan, New York City * ''Mother and Child'' (1937-38, cast stone), Harlem River Houses, Manhattan, New York City * ''Relief Portrait of Allen C. Dulles'' (1967-68, marble), CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia * ''The Maiden and the Unicorn'' (1969, bronze), height: 34.5 in. (87.6 cm.) * ''Working Together'' (1985-86) Lyme Municipal Building, Lyme, Connecticut. Four nude men pushing a boulder. Warneke's gift to Lyme, Connecticut, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the town's founding.


Architectural works

* Lions flanking 11th Street entrance, Seal of City of St. Louis, Eagle figures (1924, cast stone), City Club Building, St. Louis, Missouri. Removed 1957. * ''Double-headed Eagle'' (1923-25, terra cotta), Scottish Rite Temple, Fort Scott, Kansas. Warneke's Art Deco-Pueblo-style eagle stretches across the building's facade with a wingspan of 48 feet. * ''Lewis and Clark Expedition Frieze'' (1939, cast stone), Auditorium, Department of Interior Building, Washington, D.C. The vertical frieze is 123 inches tall, 48 inches wide, and weighs 1 ton. * Church furniture and relief panels (1958-60, carved wood), Trinity Episcopal Church, Upperville, Virginia. Warneke collaborated with H. Page Cross, architect of the church. ** Each pew end is carved with a plant variety native to Virginia—Oak, Wheat, Ferns, Grapes, Dogwood, Pear, Thistle, Holly, Columbine, Rose, Trillium, Ivy, Cherry, Lily. The 14 plant carvings are repeated over the 38 pew ends (19 on each side of the center aisle). ** The pulpit is ringed by 5 carved figures of famous preachers:
St. Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and poli ...
,
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
,
John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...
,
Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...
,
Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, " O Little Town o ...
. * Column capitals and impost blocks, (1961-64, carved limestone), Trinity Episcopal Church, Upperville, VirginiaUna Hanbury, “His Works Reflected in Many Ways,” (Washington, D.C.: ''Faith & Form: Journal of the Guild for Religious Architecture''), vol. 2 (January 1969), pp. 15-19. ** Column capital: ''Pelicans'', symbolizing the Sacrifice of Christ ** Column capital: ''Unicorn'', symbolizing Purity and Incarnation ** Impost block: ''Fish'', symbolizing Christ ** Impost block: ''Sparrows'', symbolizing the Lowly People * ''Suffer Little Children Flower Pedestal'' (1962-65, carved wood), Trinity Episcopal Church, Upperville, Virginia. Jesus walking with 2 small children.


Washington National Cathedral

* ''Earth'' double capital (1951-53, limestone), Mellon Bay, Washington National Cathedral * ''Sea'' double capital (1951-53, limestone), Mellon Bay, Washington National Cathedral * ''The Last Supper Tympanum'' (1953–59, limestone), South Portal, Washington National Cathedral ** Warneke's 8-1/2-foot-tall half-size plaster model for the tympanum is in the East Haddam Historical Society Museum in Connecticut.Eboni Farmer
“A Chiseled Place in History,”
''The Hartford Courant'', July 19, 2008.

from East Haddam Historical Society Museum.
* ''Joseph Ratti Memorial'' (1955-56, limestone), stairway of South Transcept, Washington National Cathedral * ''Saint Alban trumeau figure'' (1959–61, limestone), South Portal, Washington National Cathedral. Located directly below The Last Supper Tympanum. * ''God as Creator Keystone'' (1962, limestone), Washington National Cathedral * ''Praise Him and Magnify Him Forever Keystone'' (1962, limestone), South Transcept, Washington National Cathedral File:Samuel Memorial Immigrant.JPG, ''The Immigrant'' (1933), East
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...
, Philadelphia File:Harlem River Houses, 7th Ave. and 151 St., New York City. LOC gsc.5a06063.jpg, "Colored Concrete Statue ''Motherhood''," (1941), Photograph #41.239.4, Museum of the City of New York File:Harlem River Houses, 7th Ave. and 152nd St. LOC gsc.5a17215.jpg, ''Four Penguins'' (1938, cast stone), surrounding the central wading pool, Harlem River Houses, Manhattan, New York City File:Sculpture "Lewis & Clark Expedition," by Heinz Warneke at the Department of Interior Building, Washington, D.C LCCN2013634541.tif, ''Lewis & Clark Expedition'' (1939),
Main Interior Building The Main Interior Building, officially known as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, located in Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Interior. Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood ...
, Washington, D.C. File:Capital, Washington DC 05.JPG, ''Great Plains Tribes Capital'' (1963-64), Garth, Washington National Cathedral File:Allen Dulles Bas-Relief - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg, ''Relief Portrait of Allen C. Dulles'' (1969), CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warneke, Heinz American animal artists 1895 births 1983 deaths German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors Treasury Relief Art Project artists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists People from East Haddam, Connecticut