Charles Henry Niehaus

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Niehaus in 1896

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

Early life and education[edit]

Niehaus was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German parents.[1] He began working as a marble and wood carver, and then gained entrance to the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati. He studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany (1877–1881). The effect of the German study was that he retained much of the Neo-Classical flavor in his art while most other sculptors of his generation were drawn towards Beaux-Arts realism.

Career[edit]

He returned to America in 1881. By virtue of being a native Ohioan, he was commissioned to sculpt two statues of the recently assassinated President James Garfield; one for Cincinnati (Garfield's home city), and the other, in another pose, for the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol. He moved to Rome, Italy, where he worked on the commissions, and made a study of ancient sculpture. He modeled three major male nudes during his years in Rome, including The Scraper (1883) and Caestus (1883-1885). He returned to New York City in 1885, and opened a studio.[2]

In 1887, he created a statue of Ohioan William Allen, also for Statuary Hall. In later years, he was to place statues of Oliver P. Morton of Indiana (1900), John J. Ingalls of Kansas (1905), Zachariah Chandler of Michigan (1913), George W. Glick of Kansas (1914), Ephraim McDowell of Kentucky (1929), and Henry Clay of Kentucky (1929) in the collection. His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.[3]

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.

In 1900 Niehaus married noted horticulturalist Regina Armstrong and moved to New Rochelle, New York.[4]

A resident of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, Niehaus died at his home there on June 19, 1935.[5]

Selected works[edit]

The Driller (1901), Edwin Drake Memorial, Titusville, Pennsylvania
Apotheosis of St. Louis (1906), Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri

United States Capitol[edit]

Triumph of Law (1896-1900), Appellate Court House, New York City
Davenport Preaching at New Haven (1895), Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford, Connecticut

Niehaus had eight statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., a record for a sculptor. However, in 2003, Kansas replaced his statue of George Washington Glick with one of Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 2011, Michigan replaced his statue of Zachariah Chandler with one of Gerald R. Ford, in 2016, Ohio replaced his statue of William Allen with one of Thomas Edison, and, in 2022, Kansas replaced his statue of John James Ingalls with one of Amelia Earhart. His remaining four statues are still more than any other sculptor has in the Hall.[18]

There are also two busts by Niehaus in other collections:

Architectural sculpture[edit]

Gallery[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Clark, S. J. (1912). Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 2. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 19. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  2. ^ 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
  3. ^ "Charles Henry Niehaus". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Regina Armstrong (NY Times & Standard Star articles provided)". Home.comcast.net. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  5. ^ 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 September 10, 2017. "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."
  6. ^ The Scraper Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine from SIRIS.
  7. ^ Caestus from Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  8. ^ Moses Archived 2012-10-08 at the Wayback Machine from Library of Congress.
  9. ^ Edward Gibbon from Library of Congress.
  10. ^ Buffalo Lincoln from Buffalo History Museum.
  11. ^ Farragut Monument Archived 2014-08-02 at the Wayback Machine from SIRIS.
  12. ^ McKinley Monument Archived 2014-08-02 at the Wayback Machine from SIRIS.
  13. ^ Beardsley statue from CT Monuments.
  14. ^ Commodore Perry from SIRIS.
  15. ^ "Commodore Perry". Novan.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  16. ^ Special to The New York Times. (1916-05-18). "Key Memorial Approved, NY Times" (PDF). New York Times. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  17. ^ Hackensack War Monument Archived 2014-08-02 at the Wayback Machine from SIRIS.
  18. ^ National Statuary Hall Collection from Architect of the Capitol.
  19. ^ Garfield bust from U.S. Senate
  20. ^ Tompkins bust from U.S. Senate

References[edit]

  • Bzdak, Meredith Arms, photographs by Douglas Peterson, Public Sculpture in New Jersey: Monuments to Collective identity, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1999
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Niehaus, Charles Henry" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 670.
  • Connecticut State Capitol Statuary, The League of Women Voters of Connenticut: Education Fund
  • Hardin Campen, Richard N., Outdoor Sculpture in Ohio: A Comprehensive Overview of Outdoor Sculpture in Ohio, Mid-Nineteenth Century to the Present, West Summit Press, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, 1980
  • Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript
  • Opitz, Glenn B, Editor, Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
  • Proske, Beatrice Gilman, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 1968

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Henry Niehaus.
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