Charles Keck

Statue of James B. Duke in Duke University, 1935

Fauns at Play 1934, Brookgreen Gardens

Statue of Andrew Jackson in front of Jackson County Courthouse (Kansas City, Missouri), 1934

Charles Keck (September 9, 1875 – April 23, 1951) was an American sculptor from New York City, New York.^[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Keck studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League of New York with Philip Martiny, and was an assistant to Augustus Saint-Gaudens from 1893 to 1898. He also attended the American Academy in Rome. In 1921 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1928. He is best known for his monuments and architectural sculpture. His interment was located at Fishkill Rural cemetery.

Career[edit]

Architectural sculptures[edit]

• Brooklyn Museum, Genius of Islam, McKim, Mead and White, architects, NYC, 1908
• Pennsylvania Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1908
• Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial, Pittsburgh. 1910
• Oakland City Hall, Palmer & Hornbostel architects, Oakland, California, 1914
• Pittsburgh City-County Building, Palmer & Hornbostel architects, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1916
• Wilmington City Hall, Palmer & Hornbostel architects, Wilmington, Delaware, 1917
• Education Building, Albany, New York
• Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
• Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Schultze & Weaver architects, NYC, 1931
• Essex County Building Annex, Newark, New Jersey, c. 1930
• Jackson County Court House, Wight & Wight, architects, Kansas City Missouri, 1934
• Bronx County Courthouse, Freedlander & Hausle architects, Bronx, New York, 1933^[2]
• Campus gates, Columbia University, New York City

Monuments and memorials[edit]

• The John B. Murphy Memorial, Chicago, Illinois
• Amicitia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• George Washington, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Manchester Bridge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1917
• Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Sculpture, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1921
• Thomas Jonathan Jackson Sculpture, Charlottesville, Virginia
• Duke Family sarcophagi, Memorial Chapel, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
• Angel of Peace, Exhibition Place, Toronto, 1930
• The Lincoln Monument of Wabash, Indiana, 1932
• Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee, Alabama
• Father Duffy, Duffy Square, New York City, 1937
• Andrew Jackson, Kansas City, Missouri
• Ernest Haass Memorial, Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan
• George Rogers Clark Memorial, Springfield, Ohio
• Huey Long Memorial, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Liberty Monument, Ticonderoga, New York
• Listening Post, Lynchburg, Virginia

In 1913 Keck designed a memorial plaque that was cast from metal that had been salvaged from the USS Maine after it was raised in Havana harbor the previous year. Over a thousand of the plaques were cast and they are spread unevenly all over the United States. In 1931, Keck completed the Great Seals of the Commonwealth of Virginia which had been commissioned by the Commonwealth. The obverse of the seal is still used to this day and appears on the state flag.

Numismatic works[edit]

• 1915-S Panama-Pacific Exposition Gold Dollar
• 1927 Vermont, Battle of Bennington Sesquicentennial Half Dollar
• 1936 Lynchburg Sesquicentennial Half Dollar

See also[edit]

• Letters and Science, Columbia University, New York City

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Kvaran & Lockley, Guide to the Architectural Sculpture in America, unpublished manuscript

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Keck.

• Charles Keck at Find a Grave