William Rush

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William Rush: Allegorical Figure of the Waterworks, ca.1825, wood

William Rush (born July 4, 1756 in Philadelphia ; † January 17, 1833 there ) was the first important American sculptor . He was a representative of classicism ( English neoclassical ).

Life

Early years

Rush's father was the ship's carpenter Joseph Rush, and his mother, Rebecca Lincoln, was related to the Abraham Lincoln family. Benjamin Rush was Rush's cousin.

In his early teens, Rush carved ship models. Probably from 1771 he learned carving figureheads from Edward Cutbush and soon surpassed his master in it. From 1777 he did military service in an unknown function and duration during the War of Independence . In 1780 he married Martha Simpson Wallace with whom he had 10 children.

Figureheads and other works

In 1788 his position was so solid that he designed one of the floats for the July 4th move in Philadelphia. In the years from 1784 to 1823 he made at least 12 figureheads for the shipowner Stephen Girard alone, which corresponds to a quarter of his known production. When Joshua Humphreys was commissioned to build a navy for the USA in 1794/95, Rush received the order for the figureheads of the frigates . So he designed a Hercules for the Constitution . Motifs of his figureheads were, for example, Indians , but also national heroes, including: George Washington , John Adams , Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin , Columbus , Walter Raleigh and John Smith . But he also made lions to adorn ships that were delivered as tribute to the Dey of Algiers . At least his early figureheads were painted. Today only 3 of Rush's figureheads remain. Benjamin Latrobe praised Rush. The only work that was created before 1800 that was not a figurehead was a bust of Benjamin Franklin, which was created in 1785 and served as jewelry for Isaac Beers' New Haven bookstore and publishing house .

On December 29, 1794 Rush was involved in founding an art academy, the Columbianum, together with Charles Willson Peale , Rembrandt Peale , Raphaelle Peale , James Peale, the carvers William Birch and John Vallance, and Johann and Frederick Eckstein (father and son) . However, this academy soon dissolved in the dispute over the use of nude models.

In 1801 Charles Willson and Rembrandt Peale dug up the bones of two mammoths . Rush made missing wooden tusks for these skeletons. From 1808 to 1820, Rush created large anatomical models for the University of Pennsylvania .

On October 16, 1801, Rush was elected to the Common Council of Philadelphia and held various offices until 1826. As early as 1801 he was active in the Watering Committee and persevered in campaigning for the Philadelphia Waterworks , which, among other things , should prevent new outbreaks of yellow fever .

Foundation of the academy and main career

In 1805, Rush was one of the 71 founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) alongside Charles Willson and Rembrandt Peale . Except from June 1807 to June 1808, Rush was a director of PAFA from its inception until his death. He was also a member of the PAFA Construction Committee. From 1811 until his death he exhibited his own works in the annual PAFA exhibitions. In March 1812, the PAFA appointed 40 academicians, including Thomas Sully , Rembrandt Peale, Charles Willson Peale, Gideon Fairman , John Eckstein, Thomas Birch , Benjamin Latrobe, John Jarvis , Washington Allston , John J. Vanderlyn , Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley , John Trumbull , Robert Mills, and first and foremost Rush. Rush was also a member of the Council of Academicians , which mediated between directors and academicians . The council soon decided to set up a nude class. One of PAFA's early acquisitions was a copy of the Venus Medici , which Rush inspired to create Water Nymph and Bittern . Today PAFA owns 7 Rush plants.

Thomas Eakins: William Rush and his Model

Shipbuilding in Philadelphia largely came to a standstill as a result of the Embargo Act in 1807. The war of 1812 was also not conducive to economic recovery. At the same time, however, there was a growing interest in statues. So Rush reoriented itself. Rush's first important work outside of shipbuilding was the two statues Comedy and Tragedy for the Chestnut Street Theater.

For the waterworks, Rush created Water Nymph and Bittern in 1809 . Louisa van Uxem, daughter of the chairman of the Watering Committee, was his model. Thomas Eakins took a lot of liberties in his various depictions of the creation of this statue. It is extremely unlikely that van Uxem was a naked model.

Late years

In 1810, Rush became the first President and Fellow of the Society of Artists. In 1812, however, he left the Society in favor of the PAFA. In 1815 he wrote to Benjamin West that the Constitution of the Society was in "many points very objectionable".

Rush made copies of much of his work.

In 1819 he had a studio with his son John.

After his death, Rush was forgotten. Eakins, an admirer of Rush, revived interest in him with his pictures of Rush. The first exhibition dedicated to Rush was organized by Henry Marceau in 1937.

Works

Since Rush mainly worked with wood, many of his works are no longer preserved.

  • Benjamin Franklin, 1787, pine, 51.4 × 41.3 × 33 cm, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
    The earliest work by Rush that is not a figurehead
  • Mammoth bones, 1801, wood, whereabouts of the originals unclear
    Rush added missing bones and tusks from 2 skeletons
  • Peace, approx. 1805–1810, pine, 177.8 × 62.2 × 69.9 cm, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald S. Lestz
    Figurehead for an unknown ship
  • Comedy and Tragedy, 1808, pine, 299.9 cm each, The Edwin Forrest Home, Philadelphia
    The statues were for the Chestnut Street Theater made
  • Anatomical models, 1808–1820, jaw, leather, paper mache, The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia
    The models are greatly enlarged compared to the anatomical templates
  • Allegory of the Schuylkill River or Water Nymph and Bittern, 1809 Kiefer, private collection
    Only a fragment of the head has survived
  • Eagle, ca.1810, pine, 77.2 x 81.3 x 32.1 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
  • Joseph Wright, ca.1810, terracotta, 50.2 × 41.9 × 25.4 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
    The bust was exhibited in PAFA's first annual exhibition in 1811
  • Elizabeth Rush, ca.1810, terracotta, 31.8 × 22.2 × 16.5 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art
    Rush portrayed one of his daughters with the bust
  • Mary Simpson Rush, ca.1810, terracotta, 33 × 22.9 × 17.8 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art
    This bust represents Rush's youngest daughter
  • Virtue, c. 1810–1820, wood, 177.8 × 61 × 61 cm, The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
    Rush made a total of seven statues for the Freemasons
  • Eagle, 1811, wood, 160 × 165.1 cm, St. John's Lutheran Church, Philadelphia
    The eagle is John's attribute
  • Winter, ca.1811, pine, 71.3 cm, The Brooklyn Museum
    The figure of a child was exhibited in the PAFA in 1811
  • Benjamin Rush, 1812, terracotta, 47.6 × 39.4 × 31.8 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
  • Linnaeus, ca. 1812, pine, 61.6 × 47 × 30.5 cm, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
    The bust is a portrait of Carl von Linné
  • Caspar Wistar, 1812–1813, terracotta, 50.8 × 43.2 × 34.3 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
    Rush worked with Wistar on the anatomical models
  • Philip Syng Physick, 1812–1813, terracotta, 48.2 × 37.5 × 28.5 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
    Physick is considered the father of American surgery
  • Wisdom and Justice, 1812–1824, pine, 235.6 × 94 × 66 cm, 236.9 × 97.8 × 48.9 cm. The Fairmont Park Commission, Philadelphia
  • George Washington, 1815, Pine, 185.4 cm, National Historical Park Collection, Philadelphia
  • Benjamin Rush, ca.1815, pine, 54.6 × 45.7 × 35.6 cm, The Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia
    The portrait of Rush is one of the figureheads preserved
  • Benjamin Franklin, ca.1815, pine, 141 × 68.6 × 55.9 cm, US Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland
    The portrait was the figurehead of the Franklin
  • Self-portrait, ca.1822, terracotta, 39.4 × 45.7 × 27.9 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
  • Marquis de Lafayette, 1824, terracotta, 55.7 × 47.6 × 28.3 cm, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
  • Allegory of the Schuykill River in Its Improved State, 1825, 100 × 221.6 × 67.2 cm, The Fairmont Park Commission, Philadelphia
    The Schuylkill River is represented as a male figure in chains
  • Allegory of the Waterworks, 1825, 104.6 x 221.1 x 77.3 cm, The Fairmont Park Commission, Philadelphia

literature

  • Henry Marceau: William Rush, 1756-1833, The First Native American Sculptor. Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA 1937 (English).
    • The book that accompanies a Rush exhibition contains a family tree of the Rush family, a short text, a catalog of Rush's well-known works, and a section with illustrations.
  • Linda Bantel, Richard J. Boyle, et al. a .: William Rush, American Sculptor. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA 1982, ISBN 0-943836-00-X (English).
    • This book that accompanies an exhibition contains a larger part of the text, revised versions of the family tree and catalog, and illustrations.
  • Rush, William . In: James Grant Wilson, John Fiske (Eds.): Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography . tape 5 : Pickering - Sumter . D. Appleton and Company, New York 1888, p. 351 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Web links

Commons : William Rush  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Linda Bantel, William Rush , 1982, p. 13
  2. ↑ Linda Bantel, William Rush (1982, p. 15)
  3. ↑ Linda Bantel, William Rush (1982, p. 16)
  4. ↑ a b Linda Bantel, William Rush , 1982, p. 18
  5. ^ Henry Marceau, 1937, p. 16
  6. ↑ Linda Bantel, William Rush , 1982, p. 7
  7. ↑ Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins , 1982, Vol. 1, p. 147
  8. ^ Henry Marceau, 1937, p. 14
personal data
SURNAME Rush, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American classical sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1756
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH January 17, 1833
Place of death Philadelphia