Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie (born October 16, 1877 in Rixdorf (now Berlin-Neukölln ), † January 23, 1963 in Easton , Maryland ) was an American sculptor of German origin whose work helped the development of the Art Deco style in the United States States shaped. One of his best-known works is the design of the facade of the Rockefeller Center in New York City .
Life
Lawrie was born in Rixdorf near Berlin in 1877. In 1882 his family emigrated and settled in Chicago . At the age of 14, Lawrie began training with the sculptor Richard Park. In 1892 he assisted leading American sculptors in the design of the White City for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893. When the work was complete, he followed them to the east coast. In the following years he was trained by artists such as William Ordway Partridge or Augustus Saint-Gaudens . In 1904 he assisted Karl Bitter , head of sculpture decoration at the St. Louis World's Fair . In 1910 Lawrie graduated from Yale University , where he was a lecturer until 1919.
Lawrie experienced his artistic breakthrough in a long-term collaboration with the architect Bertram Goodhue . Lawrie designed numerous neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque churches, including for St. Bartholomew's Church and St. Thomas Church in Manhattan . One of his best known works with Goodhue is the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln . Lawrie's figures set in ornaments are considered to be an important example of the development of American Art Deco.
After Goodhue's death, Lee Lawrie worked with various architects, developing his decorative style further. In the early 1930s, Lawrie was responsible for decorating the Rockefeller Center designed by Raymond Hood . Lawrie designed, among other things, the portals of the GE Building (Friese Wisdom and Sound ) and the International Building (wall clock and relief The Purpose of the International Building ), but his best-known work is the Atlas statue on Fifth, which is rather untypical for Lawrie's work Avenue across from St. Patrick's Cathedral . In 1931 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .
In 1933 Lee Lawrie coordinated the creation of sculptures for the Contury of Progress Exhibition in Chicago, and in 1939 he held the same position at the New York World's Fair. In the years that followed, Lawrie found it increasingly difficult to get new assignments. Since Art Deco architecture had reached its peak, he concentrated on the design of sculptures. He created several war memorials after the end of World War II . In 1950 he was involved in redesigning the US Senate Chamber in the Capitol .
When Lee Lawrie died in 1963, he left more than 300 works. During his career he has received a total of eight national art and architecture awards.
literature
- Wayne Craven: American Art: History and Culture. Laurence King Publishing, London 2003, ISBN 0-07-141524-6 , pp. 484-485.
- Timothy Joseph Garvey: Lee Lawrie Classicism and American Culture, 1919-1954. Dissertation. University of Minnesota 1980.
- David Gebhard: The National Trust Guide to Art Deco in America. John Wiley & Sons, New York 1996, ISBN 0-471-14386-3 .
- Lee Lawrie: Sculpture - 48 Plates With a Forward by the Sculptor. Hanson Cleveland, Ohio 1936.
- Richard Oliver: Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. The Architectural History Foundation, New York & The MIT Press, Cambridge 1985, ISBN 0-262-15024-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Wayne Craven: American Art , p. 484.
- ^ Members: Lee Lawrie. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Some sources give 1962 as the year of death, but this is incorrect, cf. Obituary in the New York Times, January 25, 1963.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lawrie, Lee |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lawrie, Lee Oscar (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American sculptor of German origin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 16, 1877 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rixdorf (today Berlin-Neukölln ) |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 23, 1963 |
| Place of death | Easton |