Edward Kemeys

Edward Kemeys was the American counterpart to the great French animalier Antoine Louis Barye (1796-1875) and heads the list of the great American animalier sculptors. Kemeys was the first American sculptor to devote his artistic career to portraying the animal life of the western plains and mountains. His love of the west began as a young boy when he spent summers on the Illinois prairie. A self-taught artist, Kemeys discovered his artistic calling by accident. After returning from duty in the Civil War, he moved to New York City where he worked with engineers on the creation of Central Park. Always an animal lover, he delighted in watching the wildlife in the Central Park Zoo. A chance encounter there with a sculptor modeling a wolf inspired his first efforts in wax, also of a wolf. Kemeys was almost instantly successful, enjoying a steady stream of commissions. One of his earliest works, a life-size group of two fighting wolves, was immediately purchased for Fairmont Park in Philadelphia where it remains today. With the proceeds of the sale, Kemeys financed a trip west to Wyoming in 1873 where he lived among hunters and Indians while studying wildlife in its natural habitat. Kemeys also traveled to London and Paris where he drew critical acclaim for his uniquely American style and subject matter. Kemeys was repulsed by the study of caged animals after his experiences in the west, and condemned the artistic results of such observation as lifeless. For these reasons, he found the French sculptors too confining and pedantic in their approach and returned to the United States newly committed to his own artistic vision. Thereafter, he regularly traveled west whenever funding permitted.