Joseph Boehm

Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, Bart. (6 July 1834 – 12 December 1890) was a sculptor, best known for the head of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner, born in Vienna, but educated in England.

In 1856 Boehm was presented with the Austrian Imperial Prize for Sculpture, the start of his distinguished career. He came to live in England in 1862, and was granted citizenship in 1865. He became a member of the ARA in 1878, and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1882. A speciality of his was the portrait bust many examples of which are in the National Portrait Gallery.

During his career he was commissioned frequently by the Royal Family and members of the aristocracy to sculpt for their parks and gardens. His most important works include 'St George and the Dragon', which can be found outside the State Library of Victoria, and Francis Drake.

Works by Boehm are at Balmoral and Dalmeny. His large equine statue at Dalmeny was commissioned by the Baron Mayer de Rothschild for his new mansion, Mentmore Towers, in the 1860s.

His most famous pupil was the Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise was at his house, 76 Fulham Road, London, when Boehm died suddenly on 12 December 1890, provoking press speculation about an unsubstantiated sexual relationship between the two. [Stocker, Oxford DNB. Retrieved on 22 October 2007]

There are many statues by Boehm in London, where he died in 1890. In St Paul's Cathedral is his memorial statue to General Charles George Gordon. At Hyde Park Corner a large equestrian statue of the "Duke of Wellington" dominates the area. Other statues can be found in Fleet Street, the Temple Bar and Embankment Gardens.

Notes

References

*Mark Stocker, ‘Boehm, Sir (Joseph) Edgar , baronet (1834–1890)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2762, accessed 22 Oct 2007]

See also

*Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland