Charles Grafly
Encyclopedia
Charles Allan Grafly, Jr. (December 3, 1862 - May 5, 1929) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 and educator. He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...

 for 37 years.

Life and career

Grafly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 of German, Dutch and Quaker heritage and developed an interest in art at an early age. At 17 he was apprenticed to Struthers Stoneyard, at that time one of the largest stone carving ventures in the country. He spent four years carving decorations and figures for Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the house of government for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At , including the statue, it is the world's second-tallest masonry building, only shorter than Mole Antonelliana in Turin...

, under the direction of Alexander Milne Calder
Alexander Milne Calder
Alexander Milne Calder was an American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander "Sandy" Calder, were to become significant sculptors in the 20th century.-Biography:Alexander Milne Calder was...

. In order to improve his skills at carving figures and to improve his understanding of anatomy he began attending art school, eventually studying under Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...

 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1888 Grafly moved to Paris where he studied with Henri Chapu
Henri Chapu
Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his works.-Life and career:...

 and Jean Dampt
Jean Dampt
Jean Baptiste Auguste Dampt was a French sculptor, medalist, and jeweler.Born in Venarey-les-Laumes as the son of a cabinetmaker, Dampt studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, then in 1874 under the leadership of François Jouffroy and Paul Dubois at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris...

, and later gained admittance to the École des Beaux Arts, Paris. He received an Honorable Mention in the Paris Salon of 1891 for his "Mauvais Presage," now at the Detroit Institute of Art. Other awards include a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900, and medals at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...

 in Chicago in 1893, Atlanta, 1895, and Philadelphia (Gold Medal of Honor, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), 1899.

PAFA

In 1892 he became Instructor in Sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...

, also filling the same chair at the Drexel University
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...

, Philadelphia. He was a founding member of the National Sculpture Society
National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...

 and was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...

 in 1905. In 1913 Grafly was awarded the first Widener Gold Medal
Widener Gold Medal
The George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal was an award for sculpture established in 1912 by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.The award recognizes the "most meritorious work of Sculpture modeled by an American citizen and shown in the Annual Exhibition"...

 for sculpture.

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts has about twenty of Grafly's bronzes in its collection, while the museum at Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....

 in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 possesses over two hundred of his works, mostly plaster casts, from the late Charles and Dorothy Grafly Drummond (the artist's daughter).

Among Grafly's many students were sculptors George Demetrios, Paul Manship
Paul Manship
Paul Howard Manship was an American sculptor.-Life:Manship began his art studies at the St. Paul School of Art in Minnesota. From there he moved to Philadelphia and continued his education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts...

, Louis Milione, Eugene Castello, Charles Harley, Nancy Coonsman, Dudley Pratt
Dudley Pratt
Dudley Pratt was an American sculptor. He was born in Paris to Boston sculptors Bela and Helen Pratt. His sculptural education included study under Charles Grafly, Émile Antoine Bourdelle, and Alexander Archipenko....

, Walker Hancock
Walker Hancock
Walker Kirtland Hancock was a 20th-century American sculptor and teacher. He created notable monumental sculptures, including the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

, Albin Polasek
Albin Polasek
Albin Polasek was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than four hundred works during his career, two hundred of which are now displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida.-Career:Born as Albín Polášek in Frenštát, Moravia , Polasek...

, Katherine Lane Weems
Katherine Lane Weems
Katharine Lane Weems was an American sculptor famous for her work in bronze, especially for her realistic portrayals of animals....

, and Albert Laessle
Albert Laessle
Albert Laessle was an American sculptor and educator. He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for more than twenty years.- Life, education and career :...

. The latter two served as pall-bearers at Grafly's funeral following his 1929 death, in which he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

On his deathbed, Grafly asked Walker Hancock
Walker Hancock
Walker Kirtland Hancock was a 20th-century American sculptor and teacher. He created notable monumental sculptures, including the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

 to succeed him as Instructor of Sculpture at PAFA.

Selected works

  • Vulture of War (1895–99), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...

    , Philadelphia, PA.
  • Symbol of Life (1897), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...

    , Philadelphia, PA.
  • From Generation to Generation (1897–98), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
    The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...

    , Philadelphia, PA.
  • Bust of Admiral David Dixon Porter (1898–1901), Smith Memorial Arch
    Smith Memorial Arch
    Smith Memorial Arch is an American Civil War monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built on the former grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it serves as a gateway to West Fairmount Park...

    , West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Bust of John B. Gest (1901), Smith Memorial Arch
    Smith Memorial Arch
    Smith Memorial Arch is an American Civil War monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built on the former grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it serves as a gateway to West Fairmount Park...

    , West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Fountain of Man (1901), Pan-American Exposition
    Pan-American Exposition
    The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is present day Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Ave. to Elmwood Ave and northward to Great Arrow...

    , Buffalo, NY.
  • General John F. Reynolds (1901–02), Smith Memorial Arch
    Smith Memorial Arch
    Smith Memorial Arch is an American Civil War monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built on the former grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it serves as a gateway to West Fairmount Park...

    , West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Allegorical figures of Great Britain (1903) and France (1904), U.S. Custom House
    Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
    The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is a building in New York City, built 1902–1907 by the federal government to house the duty collection operations for the port of New York. It is located near the southern tip of Manhattan, next to Battery Park, at 1 Bowling Green...

    , New York, NY, Cass Gilbert
    Cass Gilbert
    - Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...

    , architect.
  • Vérité (Truth), Louisiana Purchase Exposition
    Louisiana Purchase Exposition
    The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...

    , Saint Louis, Missouri (1904).
  • Pioneer Mother Memorial (1913–15), Golden Gate Park
    Golden Gate Park
    Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...

    , San Francisco, CA.
  • General George Gordon Meade Memorial (1927), E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse, Washington DC.
  • General Galusha Pennypacker (1934), Logan Circle
    Logan Circle (Philadelphia)
    Logan Circle, also known as Logan Square, is an open-space park in Center City Philadelphia's northwest quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid. The circle itself exists within the original bounds of the square; the names Logan Square and Logan Circle are...

    , Philadelphia, PA. Albert Laessle
    Albert Laessle
    Albert Laessle was an American sculptor and educator. He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for more than twenty years.- Life, education and career :...

     completed the posthumous work.
  • and many portrait busts.

Hall of Fame for Great Americans

  • Bust of James Buchanan Eads (1924), Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is the original hall of fame in the United States. "Fame" here means "renown"...

    , Bronx, New York.
  • Bust of Jonathan Edwards (1926), Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is the original hall of fame in the United States. "Fame" here means "renown"...

    , Bronx, New York.
  • Bust of David Glasgow Farragut (1927), Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is the original hall of fame in the United States. "Fame" here means "renown"...

    , Bronx, New York.
  • Bust of John Paul Jones (1928), Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    Hall of Fame for Great Americans
    The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is the original hall of fame in the United States. "Fame" here means "renown"...

    , Bronx, New York.

Further reading

  • Drummond, Dorothy Grafly, The Sculptor's Clay: Charles Grafly (1862–1929), Edwin A Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas (1929, reprinted 1996).
  • Moissaye Marans, "Charles Grafly as Teacher," National Sculpture Review, vol. 21 (Fall 1972).
  • Pamela H. Simpson, The Sculpture of Charles Grafly, PhD. dissertation, (University of Delaware, 1974).
  • Anne d'Harnoncourt, "Charles Grafly (1862-1929)," Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976), pp. 439–40.
  • Susan James-Gadzinski and Mary Mullen Cunningham, "Charles Grafly, 1862-1929," American Sculpture in the Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA, 1997), pp. 118–41.

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