Johannes Sophus Gelert (1852–1923) was a Danish-born

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 ...

, who came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1887 and during a span of more than thirty years produced numerous works of civic art in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and on the East Coast.''New Jersey's First Citizens'' (Paterson, NJ: J. J. Scannell, 1917) pp. 206-207.

Biography

Johannes Gelert was born December 10, 1852, in the town of Nybøl in southern

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He demonstrated an early talent for art and, after moving with his family to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1866, was apprenticed to a woodcarver. In 1870, he enrolled in the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts () has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Danish Academy of Portraiture, Sculpture, and Architecture in Cope ...

, where he graduated with honors in 1875. For the next ten years, he worked and studied in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, becoming a protégé of some of

Europe's Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

leading sculptors.''National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'' (New York: James T. White & Co., 1899.) pp. 58-59. Immigrating to

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1887, Gelert established his studios in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He became a citizen of the

in 1892 and, four years later, married Georgine Sundberg, with whom he had three children. He moved his studios to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1898 and lived there until his death on November 3, 1923.Weilbach's Biographical Dictionary of Artists
''kulturarv.dk''. Retrieved: October 17, 2012.

Exhibitions and awards

Gelert exhibited his sculpture at several notable events: the 1893

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 from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

, the 1901

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–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...

in Buffalo, the 1904

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and the 1915

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. A three-time gold medal winner, he received top honors for "Wounded American Soldier" at the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, "Little Architect" at the 1899 Exhibition of the

Art Club of Philadelphia The Art Club of Philadelphia, often called the Philadelphia Art Club, was a Club (organization), club in Philadelphia, founded on February 7, 1887, to advance the arts.

and "Theseus, Victor over the Minotaur" at the 1902 Exhibition of the American Art Society in

Philadelphia 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 ...

Public displays of his art

In 1890 Gelert created a bronze statue of President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

. That statue was financed and commissioned by Chicago Time-Herald publisher, Herman H. Kohlsaat. Gelert had moved to New York at the time of his commission. Gelert's statue of Grant was displayed and dedicated at Grant Park in Galena Illinois on June 3, 1891. Grant is displayed as a citizen standing having his right hand in his pocket. Gelert told city officials that the statue was to depict Grant as a private citizen of Galena "as you knew him..." Grant's widow,

Julia Grant Julia Boggs Grant (née Dent; January 26, 1826 – December 14, 1902) was the first lady of the United States and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant. As first lady, she became the first woman in the position to write a memoir. Her memoirs, '' Th ...

, was critical of Grant holding his hand in his pocket, but she approved the final version of the statue. Johannes Gelert's 1912 statue of John H. Stevens, an early settler in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, was based on drawings by the Norwegian-born sculptor

Jacob Fjelde Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde (April 10, 1859 – May 5, 1896) was a Norwegians, Norwegian-born United States, American sculptor.Harris, Moira F., ''Monumental Minnesota: A Guide to Outdoor Sculpture'', Pogo Press, 1992, pg. 6 He is remembered ...

. Originally located in downtown

, it was later moved to one of the city's most popular parks. Other works by Gelert are found at frequently visited attractions throughout the country: the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, Chicago's

Auditorium Theatre The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located in the Auditorium Building at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was d ...

and

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

and the St. Louis Art Museum. He also designed the tomb of businessman Francis Furman, which is the largest memorial at Mount Olivet Cemetery in

. There is, however, limited public access to one of his best-known pieces. Gelert's Haymarket Memorial, showing a

policeman with an upraised arm, was unveiled in Haymarket Square on May 30, 1889. After being struck by a streetcar, defaced with black paint and targeted with bomb attacks during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, it was moved to the headquarters of the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...

in the early 1970s, where it has remained in secure locations ever since. Historians and scholars note that Gelert's works displayed contemporary and interesting themes of economic class, labor, and social movements.

Lost works

After major fire damage in 1890, McVicker's Theatre in

was redesigned by the architectural firm of Adler and Sullivan.McVickers Theatre
''cinematreasures.org''. Retrieved October 17, 2012. Johannes Gelert contributed two panels in bas-relief: "one depicting the march of LaSalle, which was the entrance of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

into

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 ...

, the other symbolizing in a picture of the Fort Dearborn massacre the final struggle of savagery to hold its own against the new civilization of the State." Dating from 1872, the building was demolished in 1922 to make way for the third version of McVicker's Theatre, a movie palace that lasted until 1984 and was taken down the following year. A bronze bust of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, created by Gelert in 1897, stood in

for over seventy years. Stolen in 1971, a fragment of the base remains. In 1899 Gelert was one of twenty-eight sculptors working on the Dewey Arch, which honored Admiral George Dewey and his victory in the

Battle of Manila Bay The Battle of Manila Bay (; ), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on May 1, 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squad ...

the previous year. The monument, erected for a parade on September 30, 1899, was made of staff, a material often used for temporary structures at international fairs and expositions. Soon after the celebration the arch began to deteriorate. When funds could not be raised to remake it with durable materials, the arch was destroyed. Dewey Arch. ''wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: October 17, 2012.

Gallery

File:Augustin Frederikskirken.JPG, St. Augustine at

Frederik's Church Frederik's Church (), popularly known as The Marble Church () for its rococo architecture, is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Copenhagen, Denmark. The church forms the focal point of the Frederiksstaden district; it is located due west of A ...

in Copenhagen, 1885 File:HaymarketPoliceMemorial.jpg, Haymarket Memorial in Chicago, 1889 File:Grant statue.jpg, Bronze statue of

Grant Park Galena, Illinois, 1890 File:The struggle for work.jpg, ''The Struggle for Work'' at the Chicago World's Fair, 1893 File:Johann Gelert - Art gothique.jpg,

Gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern Europe, Norther ...

at the St. Louis World's Fair, 1904

References

External links

Articles
The Wounded Soldier
in the ''

San Francisco Call ''The San Francisco Call'' was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called ''The San Francisco Call & Post'', the ''San Francisco Call-Bulleti ...

:'' February 26, 1899.
Johannes Gelert
in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

:'' December 11, 1922. Books
Johannes Gelert in the Lincoln Financial Foundation CollectionGraphic historical sketch of McVicker's Theatre published in 1891Johannes Gelert
in 1917-1918 issue of ''New Jersey's First Citizens'', pp. 206–207.
Johannes Gelert
in the 1899 '' National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'', pp. 58–59. Profiles
Johannes Gelert
Chicago Herald Building 1891
Chicago Herald statue by GelertHerald Building at 165 W. Washington Street
McVicker's Theatre in Chicago 1891
McVicker's TheatreAuditorium of McVicker's TheatreBas-reliefs at McVicker's Theatre
* ttp://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID:siris_ari_22142 The Fort Dearborn MassacreAndersen statue at Lincoln Park 1896
The Hans Christian Andersen Statue
in '' Skandinaven:'' September 17, 1896. Beethoven bust at Lincoln Park 1897
Beethoven bust unveiled
Dewey Arch in New York City 1899
The Dewey Arch

Bas-relief on Dewey ArchArt and Artists (Destruction of Dewey Arch)
Gold Medals

* ttp://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=%22IAS+76006131 Little Architect: Philadelphia 1899br>Theseus, Victor over the Minotaur: Philadelphia 1902
Catalogs
Johannes Gelert
at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

.
Johannes Gelert
at the

. Selected works by Johannes Gelert
1885 St. Augustine
at

.
1889 Haymarket Memorial
at police headquarters in

.
1889 Portrait medallions of Demosthenes and William Shakespeare
at the

.
1889 Portrait medallions of Richard Wagner and Joseph Haydn
at the

.
1890 Ulysses S. Grant
in

Galena, Illinois Galena is the largest city in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 3,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...

.
1891 The Chicago Herald
at St. Ignatius High School.
1893 The Struggle for Work
at the Chicago World's Fair.
1895 Abraham Lincoln1896 Hans Christian Andersen
at

.
1897 Beethoven bust
at

.
1897 Wounded American Soldier:
gold medal recipient at the Tennessee Centennial in

.
1899 Little Architect:
gold medal recipient at the

Art Club of Philadelphia The Art Club of Philadelphia, often called the Philadelphia Art Club, was a Club (organization), club in Philadelphia, founded on February 7, 1887, to advance the arts.

exhibition.
1899 Dewey Arch
in

.
1899 Justice Joseph Mead Bailey
at the

Chicago-Kent College of Law The Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois (after Northwestern Law). Chicago-Kent wa ...

.
1904 Napoleon
at the St. Louis World's Fair.
1904 Gothic art
at the St. Louis World's Fair.
1904 Gothic art
at the St. Louis Art Museum.
1905 Denmark
at the U. S. Custom House in

.
1908 Francis Furman statue
at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

.
1908 Francis Furman mausoleum
at Mount Olivet Cemetery in

.
1909 Roman emperor
at the

.
1909 Roman law
at the

.
1909 Roman orator
at the

.
1909 Roman statesman
at the

.
1911 Enlightenment giving power
atop the Bergen County Court House in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

.
1912 John H. Stevens
at

Minnehaha Park Minnehaha Park is a city park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and home to Minnehaha Falls and the lower reaches of Minnehaha Creek. Officially named Minnehaha Regional Park, it is part of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board ...

.
1913 Evening prayers
at Christ Lutheran Church in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

.
1916 C. W. Post
in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelert, Johannes 1852 births 1923 deaths People from Sønderborg Municipality 19th-century Danish sculptors 19th-century American sculptors 20th-century Danish sculptors 20th-century American sculptors Danish male artists 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors Danish emigrants to the United States