-
Add this artist to my Invaluable Auction Search Alerts
William Rush (1756-1833)
Professions: Wood Carver; Sculptor / Carver; Sculptor
-
BRONZE BUST OF THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, 1824,
-
An American Plaster Bust of General Andrew
William Rush Biography
(b Philadelphia, PA, 4 July 1756; d Philadelphia, 17 Jan 1833). American sculptor. The most important sculptor to emerge from the American folk art tradition of figurehead-carving, he learnt to carve from his father, a ship’s carpenter. He was apprenticed in 1771 to the figurehead-carver Edward Cutbush, an emigrant from London. Within a few years Rush opened his own shop, before being drawn into the American Revolution (1775–83) as an officer in the Philadelphia militia. He resumed his business after the war; Indian Trader (c . 1789; untraced), from the ship the William Penn , is one of his earliest known works. His superior skill and his lively, animated figureheads gained him a local reputation, and a number of apprentices assisted him in his busy shop. Rush became increasingly active in the artistic and civic affairs of Philadelphia, joining with Charles Willson Peale in 1804 to found America’s first art organization, the Columbianum. This short-lived drawing school disbanded as a result of controversy over the use of live models. Rush was a founder in 1805 of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he showed at the annual exhibitions and served as a director. In 1811 Rush became Professor of Sculpture for the newly organized Society of Artists.
Grove Art excerpts - Electronic ©2003, Oxford Art OnlineWilliam Rush Sold at AuctionView all William Rush Sold at Auction
To see auction price results and more examples of work by William Rush, please click View all William Rush Sold at Auction.
