Henry Hudson Kitson

{{short description|American sculptor}}

{{About|the sculptor|British navy officer|Henry Kitson}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Sir Henry Hudson Kitson

| image = Henry Hudson Kitson.jpg

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1863|04|09}}

| birth_place = Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, UK

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|06|26|1863|04|09}}

| death_place = Tyringham, Massachusetts, U.S.

| nationality = English

| spouse = Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson (m.1893-div.1909)

| field = Sculpture

}}

Henry Hudson Kitson (April 9, 1863,Greenthal. Kozol, Ramirez, ‘’American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’’, Northeastern University Press and the Museam of Fine Arts, Boston., 1986 p. 299, 301 1864 or 1865Taft, Lorado, ‘’The History of American Sculpture’’, The Macmillan Company, New York,1925 p. 489 – June 26, 1947) was an English-American sculptorGreenthal. Kozol, Ramirez, ‘’American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’’, Northeastern University Press and the Museam of Fine Arts, Boston., 1986 p. 300 who sculpted many representations of American military heroes.

Romania's Queen Elisabeth knighted him after he sculpted a marble bust of her in the early 1900s.

His student and first wife, Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson was a sculptor as well, and his brothers, John William Kitson, Samuel James Kitson, and Robert Lewellen Kitson, also had art careers in the United States. He is perhaps best known in the U.S. for his sculpture of the "Minute Man" on Lexington Green, in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Life

Kitson migrated to the United States about 1877/8 where he apprenticed with his oldest brother John William Kitson. William Kitson was in business with another Englishman Robert Ellin; their firm, Ellin & Kitson, were identified as architectural sculptors. They specialized in interior carving and wood work in commercial structures and churches. Some buildings they worked on were the Equitable Building, the Tilden Mansion, the Astor Memorial Redos and the William K. Vanderbilt House.

Kitson and Samuel James Kitson the next oldest brother were both associated with Ellin & Kitson doing sculptural work. According to family oral history, William now quite successful encouraged and financially provided for Harry Kitson to move to Paris 1n 1882 where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under the sculptor Jean-Marie Bonnassieux and sculptor Dumont. Kitson also was enrolled in the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs studying under Millet and Ganter. He returned first in 1884/5 to NYC to his eldest brother William's business but in 1886 removed to Boston where his sculptor brother Sam had established a studio. Once there Kitson received numerous commissions and began teaching. His students included portrait sculptor Leila Usher.{{Cite news |url=http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/printview/collection/p15324coll13/id/6741/type/compoundobject/show/4/popts/page |title=Leila Usher, Sculptress, 95 |oclc=785729899 |work=New York Herald Tribune |access-date=July 31, 2017 |via=OCLC}} John William Kitson died in 1888{{Cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcRJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA309 |title=The Late Mr. John William Kitson |work=The Building News and Engineering Journal |volume=54 |page=309 |date=February 24, 1888 |access-date=July 31, 2017 |via=Google Books}} and Samuel James had returned to Boston after a stay in Washington, DC. The youngest brother, Robert Lewellen Kitson, a water-colorist, joined his older brothers in Boston about 1902.

In 1893, Kitson married Theo Alice Ruggles, a former student of his, who went on to have a successful career of her own as Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson. Theo and Harry had three children: Theo (called Babs), John, who became a civil engineer, and Dorothy. None of the children had issue. The noted sculptor Gaston Lachaise worked in his atelier. Many of Henry Hudson Kitson papers are in the Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C., as well as the New York Historical Society. Kitson only carried a British passport.

He was the author of numerous public monuments, and left behind his home, Santarella, in Tyringham. The home, which Kitson modified extensively, was recently restored and now operates as a special events venue as well as providing overnight accommodation.

Gallery

File:Minute Man Statue Lexington Massachusetts.jpg|Minute Man Statue, Lexington, Massachusetts

File:Minute Man Statue Lexington Massachusetts cropped.jpg|Closeup view of Minute Man Statue

File:Statue of Roger Conant.jpg|Roger Conant Statue, Salem, Massachusetts

File:Nathaniel Prentice Banks statue, Waltham, MA - 1.JPG|Nathaniel P. Banks, Waltham, Massachusetts

File:Santarella, Tyringham MA.jpg|Santarella, Tyringham, Massachusetts

File:The Falconer, Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island.jpg|The Falconer, Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island. 1893.{{cite web|title=Self-Guided tour of Notable Art|url=http://www.rifoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Transforming-Rhode-Island/Sculpture%20map.pdf|website=Rhode Island Foundation|publisher=The Roger Williams Park Consevancy|accessdate=19 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820133228/http://www.rifoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Transforming-Rhode-Island/Sculpture%20map.pdf|archive-date=20 August 2016|url-status=dead}}

File:The Pilgrim Maiden, Brewster Gardens, Plymouth, Mass (NYPL b12647398-79399).tiff|The Pilgrim Maiden, Brewster Gardens, Plymouth, Massachusetts

File:The Minuteman.jpg|The Minuteman, at Hasbrouck House, Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, New York, 1924

=[[Vicksburg National Military Park]]=

File:18-14-019-davis.jpg|Statue of Jefferson Davis, 1927

File:20-13-058-vicksburg.jpg|Relief portrait of Col. Mortimer D. Leggett, 1911

File:21-32-123-rigby.jpg|Bust of Capt. William T Rigby, 1928

File:20-13-251-smith.jpg|Bust of Maj. Gen. Martin L. Smith, 1911

File:21-32-289-iowa-cropped.jpg|Bronze Relief Panels on Iowa State Memorial

Selected works

References

{{reflist}}

Family letters, business letters, photos and other documents held by family historian

  • Frank Torrey Robinson, "Living New England Artists: Biographical Sketches...", S. E. Cassino, Publisher Boston 1888 pgs 113-119
  • Columbia Publishing Company, MA {(Massachusetts Of Today: A Memorial of the State, Historical and Biographical)}, 1892 by Toomey & Juinn, Page 172