Henry Kirke Bush-Brown

Henry Kirke Bush-Brown From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Kirke Bush-Brown (1857–1935) was an American sculptor and the adopted nephew of sculptor Henry Kirke Brown. He was raised in Newburgh, New York and attended the National Academy of Design in New York City.

He became known for historically accurate realist sculptures illustrating American history.

Works at Gettysburg battlefield

Bush-Brown produced three equestrian bronze sculptures at Gettysburg battlefield. The first equestrian statue ever produced by Bush-Brown was that of General George Meade, the victor at Gettysburg.[2] Located on Hancock Avenue, it is near where "Meade watched his Union troops repulse the Confederate charge." This statue was created after two years of research, and portrays "Meade without a hat, as he appeared during the battle," in keeping with Bush-Brown's commitment to historical accuracy.[3] Meade holds a pair of binoculars in his right hand and his hat in his left hand. A sword hangs from the left side of his saddle. The monument cost $37,500.[4] The sculpture of Meade gazes across the battlefield toward the statue of his opponent, Robert E. Lee.

Following the production of Meade, Bush-Brown created a 9,000-pound monument of General John F. Reynolds (killed in action July 1, 1863),[5] in which the horse has only two feet on the ground.[6] This statue was dedicated in 1899 at a ceremony in which Bush-Brown, Reynolds' nephew, and Pennsylvania Governor William Stone were present. The sculpture is located approximately 1100 feet from the marker where Reynolds was killed.[6]

Bush-Brown also produced an equestrian bronze of General John Sedgwick, the seniormost Union casualty of the American Civil War, who was killed later at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse and who had participated in the Battle of Gettysburg.[4] The statue of Sedgwick incorporates such details as the dents in the General's scabbard and the tiny stitching seen on the horse blanket.[2]

In addition, Bush-Brown made a bust of Abraham Lincoln, dedicated in 1912 as part of the Lincoln Speech Memorial commemorating Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.[5]

Other notable works

Another of Bush-Brown's noted works was a figure of Commodore Isaac Hull, one of four American naval heroes produced by various artists for the 1899 triumphal Dewey Arch in New York City's Madison Square, commemorating the naval victory of Admiral George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay.[7]

Bush-Brown created numerous sculptures for the exterior of New York City's Beaux Arts 1907 Surrogate's Courthouse.[8]

In 1910 he created a bronze statue of Mary Jemison, "The White Woman of the Genesee", which marks her grave in New York's Letchworth State Park.

Bush-Brown also produced a relief of financier and civic planner Cyrus Clark (1911), who was instrumental in the planning and development of New York City's Riverside Drive and Riverside Park. Brown’s relief of Clark is embedded in a natural rock outcropping near the 83rd Street entrance to Riverside Park.[9]

Author

Apart from his numerous sculptures related to American history, Bush-Brown was also the author of an unpublished biographical manuscript detailing the life and work of his uncle.[10] One copy of the manuscript is with the Bush-Brown family papers at Smith College[11] and another is held by the Library of Congress.

Bush-Brown died in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Memorial Cemetery, Arundel, Maryland.[12]

References

1. Einhorn, Lois (1992). Abraham Lincoln, the orator: penetrating the Lincoln legend. Greenwood Press. p. 92. ISBN 0-313-26168-7.
2. http://gettysburgsculptures.com/archive_page_sculptor_sedgwick_equ
3. http://www.wolfrunstudio.com/PAGES/pg_mem16.html
4. http://www.drawthesword.goellnitz.org/2009/04/maj-gen-george-g-mead...
5. http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/tstops/tstd4-23.htm
6. http://www.paulmartinart.com/DutyHonorCountry.html
7. "New Dewey Parade Route" (PDF). The New York Times. September 18, 1899. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
8. Forgotten Delights
9. "Riverside Park Highlights". Retrieved 2010-01-06.
10. Henry Kirk Brown: The Father of American Sculpture
11. http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss339_main....
12. http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/bushbrown.html

Bibliographic details for "Henry Kirke Bush-Brown"

• Page name: Henry Kirke Bush-Brown
• Author: Wikipedia contributors
• Publisher: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
• Date of last revision: 21 June 2015 01:32 UTC
• Date retrieved: 21 June 2015 12:59 UTC
• Permanent link: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Kirke_Bush-Brown&o...
• Primary contributors: Revision history statistics
• Page Version ID: 667849965

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Caroline V. Udall (4) born May 11, 1817, at Hartford, Vt., married Oct. 29, 1846, Robert Wasson Bush, who was born Nov. 18,1813. Resides at Elmira, N. Y.

Children:

Julia Sophia(5) Bush, born Aug. 12, 1846, at Ogdensburg, N. Y.;

John James (5) Bush, born Nov. 8, 1854;

Henry Kirke (5) Bush-Brown, born April 21, 1857, married April 7, 1886, Margaret W. Lesley of Phil. Penn. He was a pupil of Henry Kirke Brown. Studied art in Paris and Italy. Residence and studio at Newburg, NY.

Bibliographic information:

• Title The Genealogical Exchange, Volumes 1-7
• Contributor Natalie R. Fernald
• Published 1904
• Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Digitized Mar 13, 2008
• Page 9
• https://books.google.com/books?id=9WVbAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA9&lpg=RA1-P...

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BUSH-BROWN, HENRY KIRKE

Sculptor; b. Ogdensburg, N. Y., April 21, 1857; s. Robert W. and Caroline (Udall) Bush, ed. Newburgh, N.Y.; studied art with Henry K. Brown, and in Paris with Antoine. Mercie;

m. , April 7, 1886, Margaret W. Lesley, of Philadelphia; children:

Lydia, b. 1887;

Harold, b. 1888;

Malcolm, b. 1891;

James, b. 1892.

Among his more notable works are: Indian Buffalo Hunt, World's Columbian Exp'n, Chicago, 1893; equestrian statues of Gen. G. G. Meade and Gen. John F. Reynolds, Gettysburg, Pa.; equestrian statue of Gen. Anthony Wayne, Valley. Forge, Pa.; Civil War Memorial, Union -League, Philadelphia; Justinian, Appellate Court, N. Y. City; Horace. Mann, La Purchase Exp'n, , 1904; Truth, Pan-Am. Exp'n, 1901; Soldiers' Monument, The Spirit of '61 (Philadelphia), 1911; Lincoln Memorial (Gettysburg, Pa.), 1911; Union Soldier, Mountaineer. Soldier (Charleston, W. Va.), 1912; Gen. John Sedgwick Equestrian Statue for State of Conn. (Gettysburg, Pa.), 1913. Traveled in England, France, Italy and Germany for professional study. Trustee of the Scenic and Historic Preservation Soc.; mem. Hudson-Fulton Celebration Comm'n. Mem. Nat. Sculpture Soc., Architectural League of N. Y. City, Municipal Art Soc., Empire State Soc., S. A. R. Clubs: National Arts (N. Y.), Cosmos (Washington). Address: 1729 G St., Washington, D. C.

Bibliographic information:

• Title Who's who in New York City and State, Volume 6
• Cornell Library New York State Historical Literature
• Contributors Lewis Randolph Hamersly, John William Leonard, Frank R. Holmes
• Publisher L.R. Hamersly Company, 1914
• Original from the New York Public Library
• Digitized Apr 1, 2015
• Page 107
• https://books.google.com/books?id=5exHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&d...

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Additional useful links:

https://books.google.com/books?id=pyvjWAcwnHEC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=...

http://www.phelpssports.com/printarticle.php?id=6657

http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss339.html

http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/bushbrown.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=pyvjWAcwnHEC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=...

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:M53R-341

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=82716273