Login
Login

Robert Berks

{{Short description|American sculptor (1922–2011)}}

{{more citations needed|date=March 2013}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Robert Berks

| image = BobBerks2.jpg

| caption = Bob Berks in his studio, Orient, NY By Harold Wolfson

| birth_name = Robert S. Berks

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|4|26}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, US

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|5|16|1922|4|26}}

| death_place = New York City, US

| known_for = John Fitzgerald Kennedy bust

| occupation = sculptor

| spouse = Dorothy "Tod" Berks

| children = 3

}}

Robert Berks (April 26, 1922 – May 16, 2011) was an American sculptor, industrial designer and planner. He created hundreds of bronze sculptures and monuments including the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, and the Albert Einstein Memorial in Washington, D.C. Bob was prolific and created numerous sketches, drawings, and paintings; often in service of sculpture and site-planning subjects. He worked for over 50 years in a converted schoolhouse on the north fork of Long Island, NY. For projects with living subjects, Bob would often invite individuals to visit with him and his wife, Tod, for a period of a week or two so he could observe them in real life; through this time he captured emotions, tendencies, facial expressions, and body language. It was this commitment to understanding his subject below the surface that facilitated the intimacy and personality found in his sculptural portraits. Bob's work is spread around the world, but he is best known for his commissions in Washington DC. Bob is one of the only artists in the world to have multiple pieces regularly on display in the Oval office. Depending on the desires of the sitting US President, Berks' busts of famed civil servants and civil rights leaders line the walls of the Oval (Eight (8) original works are owned by the National Gallery); most often on view are busts of FDR, Lincoln, RFK, Ronald Reagan, and JFK.

The large 8 foot bust of John F Kennedy in front of the [https://www.kennedy-center.org/ Kennedy Center], is most commonly recognized given the reach of televised programs including the annual Kennedy Center honors and The Mark Twain Prize. In the 1960's, Berks was named "The Capitol's Michelangelo" for his bronze monuments around the mall.

Life

He grew up in Hecht House, Boston. He studied at the Boston Museum.{{cite news|last1=Duncan|first1=Erika|title=ENCOUNTERS;A Sculptor Whose Model Is History|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/nyregion/encounters-a-sculptor-whose-model-is-history.html?src=pm&pagewanted=2|accessdate=28 October 2014|work=The New York Times|date=April 14, 1996}}

In 1953, he married Dorothy “Tod” Berks.

One of Berks's most famous works is a bust of former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy that can be found in the Grand Foyer of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

A copy of his Bust of Abraham Lincoln was displayed in the Oval Office during the Clinton Administration.

Another of his statues, that of the Swedish botanist and physician Carl Linnaeus, can be found in the Heritage Garden of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois.

In 2005, he donated a sculpture of Einstein to Princeton University.{{cite news|last1=Braun|first1=Candace|title=Sculptor Donates Planned Einstein Bust to Princeton|url=http://www.towntopics.com/jun0904/other1.html|accessdate=28 October 2014|work=Town Topics}}

In 2007, he made a sculpture of Fred Rogers for Pittsburgh.{{cite news|last1=McNulty|first1=Timothy|title=A statue of Mister Rogers will adorn the North Shore|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2007/05/23/A-statue-of-Mister-Rogers-will-adorn-the-North-Shore/stories/200705230311|accessdate=28 October 2014|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=May 23, 2007}}

He died on May 16, 2011, at the age of 89 from natural causes.{{cite news |url=http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2011/05/12899/bob-berks-orient-artist-who-sculpted-images-of-presidents-and-popes-dies-at-89/ |title=Bob Berks, Orient artist who sculpted images of presidents and popes, dies at 89 |work=The Suffolk Times |date=May 17, 2011 |accessdate=July 3, 2011 | first=Tim | last=Kelly}}

Notable works

{{Multiple image

| header = Selected works

| align = right

| direction =

| total_width = 300

| perrow = 2

| image1= Louis Brandeis statue by Robert Berks.jpg

| caption1 = Louis Brandeis statue at Brandeis University (1956)

| image2= Kennedy Bust Performing Arts.jpg

| caption2 = Bust of John F. Kennedy located at the Kennedy Center (1971)

}}

References

Sources

  • James M. Goode: Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979, {{ISBN|0-87474-138-6}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • [http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0000230.htm Photos of Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial]
  • [http://www.dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001310.htm Photos of Albert Einstein Memorial]
  • [http://robertberksstudios.com/index.shtml Biographies in bronze - Robert Berks Studios]
  • [http://artcurious291.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/robert-berks-albert-einstein/ Robert Berks: Albert Einstein]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berks, Robert}}

Category:1922 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:Sculptors from Boston

Category:20th-century American sculptors

Category:20th-century American male artists

Category:21st-century American sculptors

Category:21st-century American male artists

Category:American male sculptors