Henry Hering

Henry Hering was an American sculptor who was born New York City on February 15, 1874 and died there on January 17, 1949.

Early career

He was a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens at Cooper Union and of Philip Martiny at the Art Students League. He then went to Paris where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts.

Later career

Following his return from Paris Hering worked as an assistant to Augustus Saint-Gaudens until Saint-Gaudens' death in 1907. In 1910 Hering married another long time Saint-Gaudens' assistant, Elsie Ward, who gave up her independent career as a sculptor, to serve as her husband's assistant.

Henry Haring is well known for his work as an architectural sculptor. Although a few of his later works are Art Deco in style, notably the Severance Hall decorations and the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, most of his work consists of allegorical figures in the Beaux-Arts tradition. His reputation as a sculptor decreased as International Modernism dispensed with architectural, figurative and allegorical work. As with many other such artists Hering's oeuvre is now being reexamined in a more positive light.

The National Sculpture Society gives out the Henry Hering Award every year for noteworthy collaboration between sculptor and architect.

Notable public works

* "Energy in Repose", Federal Reserve Bank, Cleveland, Ohio, 1923
* "Pro Patria" Indiana War Memorial, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1929, Walker & Weeks. architects. This male nude was the largest bronze statue to have been cast in America at that time.
* "Pere Marquette", Marquette Park, Gary, Indiana, 1932
* "Abraham Lincoln", University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1934
* "Peace", Peace Gardens, Cleveland, Ohio, 1936

References

* Bach, Ira, editor, "Chicago's Famous Buildings", University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1980
* Johannesen, Eric, "A Cleveland Legacy: The Architecture of Walker and Weeks", Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 1999
* Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, "Architectural Sculpture in America", unpublished manuscript
* National Sculpture Society, "Contemporary American Sculpture 1929", National Sculpture Society, New York, NY 1929
* Opitz, Glenn B , Editor, "Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers", Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
* Proske, Beatrice Gilman, "Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture", Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 1968