Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson (1871 - October 29, 1932), also known as Tho. A. R. Kitson, was an American sculptor.

Kitson was born in Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

. As a young child she displayed artistic talent, but when her mother attempted to enroll her in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...

, she was informed that she was too young to be admitted. Her mother then approached other schools, which gave her the same advice. One of the school directors, however, suggested that she find a tutor for her and pointed her in the direction of a rising star, Henry Hudson Kitson.

She began studying with sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson

Henry Hudson Kitson

Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, often known as H. H. Kitson, American sculptor, born in Huddersfield, England on April 9, 1865 and died at Tyringham, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1947...

 in 1886, and married him in Boston in 1893 in the social event of the season. In 1895 she was the first woman to be admitted to 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...

. In 1888, she won honorable mention at the Salon des Artistes Francais, (the youngest woman ever to receive the honor). She was lionized when she returned to the United States for this award and was asked to comment on everything from the state of American art to men's fashions. and in 1904 won a bronze medal at the St. Louis World's Fair. After the Kitsons separated in 1909, she moved to Farmington, where she maintained a studio until her 1932 death in Boston, Massachusetts.

In the course of her career she created many public monuments, both in conjunction with her husband and on her own. Her best known statue is The Hiker

The Hiker

The Hiker is a historic statue created by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, located on a traffic island at the intersection of Plymouth Avenue and Pleasant Street in Fall River, Massachusetts...

, a monument commemorating the soldiers who fought in the wars of the United States' turn of the 20th Century Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...

 territorial expansion, the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

, the Philippine-American War

Philippine-American War

The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...

 and the Boxer Rebellion

Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

. Around 50 versions of this work can be discovered spread over much of the United States.

Selected works

• The Hiker (Spanish-American War)
• Thaddeus Kosciuszko Sculpture, Boston Public Garden
  Boston Public Garden
  The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common.-History:...