Charles Henry Niehaus

Charles Henry Niehaus (January 24, 1855 – June 19, 1935), was an American sculptor, born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Contents

Education

Niehaus began working as a marble and wood carver and then gained entrance to the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati and later studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany. The effect of the German study was that he retained much of the neo-classic flavor in his art while most other sculptors of his generation were drawn towards beaux-arts realism.

Career

Niehaus returned to America in 1881 and by virtue of being a native Ohioan was commissioned to sculpt a monument to the recently assassinated President Garfield, who was also from Ohio. Following that he created a statue of Ohioan William Allen that was placed in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., along with his statue of Garfield. In later years he was to place statues of John J. Ingalls (Kansas, 1905), Henry Clay (Kentucky, 1929), Ephraim McDowell (Kentucky, 1929), Zachariah Chandler (Michigan, 1913), Oliver P. Morton (Indiana, 1900) and George W. Glick (Kansas, 1914) in the Hall, making his eight statues represented there five more than any other artist. However, the Glick statue was replaced in 2003, and the Chandler statue is being replaced as of 2009.

Monuments by Niehaus can be found in many American cities. Several of the works authored by him are equestrian statues. As was the case with other sculptors of his day he also fashioned a fair amount of architectural sculpture.

Niehaus died at his home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.[1]

Public monuments


Architectural sculpture

References

  1. ^ Staff. "CHARLES H. NIEHAUS, NOTED SCULPTOR, DIES; Designed the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Baltimore and Many Washington Statues.", The New York Times, June 20, 1935. Accessed March 22, 2011. "CLIFFSIDE PARK, N. J. - Charles Henry Niehaus, noted sculptor of the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Baltimore and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial at Newark, N. J., died 8 o'clock tonight at his home, 40 Grant Avenue. He was 80 years old."
  2. ^ Key Memorial Approved, NY Times

Sources