Robert Cushing (1841 – 11 March 1896) was a prominent Irish

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 ...

, active in the United States in the second half of the 19th century. According to ''

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 ...

'', his most striking work was a statue of John Christopher Drumgoole in New York City.

Life and career

Cushing was born in

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, Ireland, in 1841. He emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City. He studied under

Randolph Rogers Randolph Rogers (July 6, 1825 in Waterloo, New York – January 15, 1892 in Rome, Italy) was an American Neoclassical sculptor. An expatriate who lived most of his life in Italy, his works ranged from popular subjects to major commissions, includ ...

in Rome, Italy, for a period. He had an office at 44 West 30th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

's Tenderloin district. Cushing had a daughter with his wife, who died several years before him. In 1894, his most notable piece of work, a statue of compatriot Father John Christopher Drumgoole, was erected in Lafayette Place, New York City. It was moved to the Old Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Mount Loretto, in 1920."A Brief History of MIV"
Mission of the Immaculate Virgin.

Death

Cushing died on 11 March 1896, aged 55. The sign he had left on his office door read: "Called away by an important engagement. Back at 3 P.M. tomorrow." He had left to go to St. Vincent's Hospital, and expected to be back at work the following day; however, he experienced "heart trouble", which, coupled with "other ailments", led to his death. He was buried in

Calvary Cemetery, Queens Calvary Cemetery is a Catholic Church, Catholic cemetery in Maspeth, Queens, Maspeth and Woodside, Queens, in New York City, New York, United States. With about three million burials, it has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the ...

. Only a couple of his most intimate acquaintances knew of his health problems.

Selected works

Below is a selection of Cushing's works, which are believed to number around 500 in total. * Equitable Building grouping, New York City * William Morrill Wadley statue,

Terminal Station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

(1885) *Bust of

Cardinal McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as the first American-born Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his ...

, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City * Father Drumgoole statue, Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, Lafayette Place, New York City (1894) - moved to Mount Loretto in 1920 * John Kelly statue,

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

, New York City *

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

bust, Senate chamber, Washington, D.C. (1895)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cushing, Robert 1841 births 1896 deaths 19th-century Irish sculptors Artists from County Tipperary Sculptors from New York City Irish male sculptors