Adolph Wolter

Four Freedoms Monument

Adolph Gustav Wolter van R Wolter (September 7, 1903–October 15, 1980) was German-born American sculptor, educator, and carver. Wolter was born in Reutlingen, Germany. His father was a stone carver and Wolter apprenticed with him before enrolling in the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. In 1922 he immigrated to the United States and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1933 Wolter arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana, to carve the reliefs (created by Leon Hermant) on the Indiana State Library; he stayed in Indiana for the remainder of his life.

Wolter graduated from the Herron School of Art and later taught there. He also taught at the Indiana College of Mortuary Science as a professor of "restorative art, " "apparently using his understanding of anatomy to help morticians repair the faces of those who had been in accidents."^[1] The use of sculptors to aid in the facial reconstruction of war veterans had already been pioneered by sculptor and medical doctor R. Tait McKenzie, author of Reclaiming the Maimed.^[2]

Wolter is remembered for creating both public monuments and architectural sculpture.

Wolter was married to the late Evelyn Crostreet of Indianapolis. Step-grandchildren include Brian Grossman, who resides in Washington D.C., Anne (Grossman) Tillie and Keith Grossman, who reside in Indiana, and Elizabeth Wolter, who resides in Connecticut.

Selected works

• Carved relief panels for the Indiana State Library Building, Indianapolis, 1933.
• Four Freedoms Monument, White Chapel Cemetery, Troy, Michigan, 1948.
• Syrinx, University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1973.
• American Legion Soldier, American Legion Building, Washington D.C., 1951.
• St. Mary of the Woods, St Mary of the Woods College, Saint Mary of the Woods, Indiana, 1965.
• Louis Chevrolet Memorial, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana, 1975.

Notes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adolph Wolter.

• A Glimpse of White Chapel: Where Memory Lives in Beauty, White Chapel Memorial Cemetery, Troy, MI, n.d.
• Goode, James M. (1974). The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 
• Greiff, Glory-June (2005). Remembrance, Faith & Fancy: Outdoor Public Sculpture in Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87195-180-0. 
• Hussey, Christopher (1930). Tait McKenzie: A Sculptor of Youth. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippencott Company. p. 55. 
• Kvaran and Lockley, Guide to the Architectural Sculpture of America, http://www.archsculptbooks.com