We are pleased to announce the placement of two rare bronze sculptures with the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY, by Edward Kemeys and Karl Illava. Both artists are known for their depictions of animals, and are represented in New York City by their public sculpture.
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Edward Kemeys
American, 1843-1907
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On the Verge, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, c. 1880
Bronze, dark brown and black patina, 18 7/8 H. x 9 W. x 6 ⅜ D. inches
Signed on base: Edward Kemeys. / fox head and crescent moon cipher
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Edward Kemeys was America's first "animalier" or specialist in animal sculpture and is especially noted for two particular public works, being the pair of Lions, which guard the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago and Still Hunt, a stalking puma on the precipice of a granite outcropping in Central Park, New York. Kemeys strength lay in conveying the character of each species, as well as a sense of natural movement.
Kemeys first became interested in animals when he moved to New York City after the Civil War, where he had served as an artillery officer. He was employed in the construction of Central Park and at the Central Park Zoo, he observed someone modeling a wolf's head and decided to try sculpture himself. His talent manifested itself immediately, and his first sculpture Hudson Bay Wolves (1872) was purchased for Philadelphia's Fairmont Park.
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Still Hunt, c. 1883
Bronze and natural rock, Central Park, New York, NY
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Karl Illava
American, 1896-1954
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Untitled (Grizzly Bear), c. 1917
Bronze, brown patina, 10 H. x 14 W. inches, signed: KARL
Inscribed: Cast by Griffoul, Newark, NJ, believed to be a unique cast
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Karl Illava was a child prodigy from the age of 14 and was a student of Gutzon Borglum. At the 1913 exhibition of sculpture at the Gorham Gallery New York he was highly praised for a monumental sculpture of panic-struck sheep descending a slope. The sculpture was so popular, it was exhibited again in 1914 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition.
The sculptor also worked with Harriet Frishmuth in 1921, modeling the hunting dogs for the sculpture The Hunt, Diana and Hounds. His most well-known sculpture is 107th Infantry Memorial, completed in 1927 and placed in Central Park along the Perimeter Wall at Fifth Avenue and 67th Street. This sculpture is of seven World War I soldiers. Four have been wounded as the three central figures, with stern faces and clenched fists, attack with bayonets.
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One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial, 1927
Bronze, Central Park, Fifth Avenue at East 67th Street, New York, NY
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GRAHAM SHAY 1857
17 E. 67th Street, No. 1A
New York, NY 10065
212.535.5767
Hours
Monday through Friday, 12pm to 6pm
All other times by appointment
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