William Rudolf O’Donovan

Background

O’Donovan, William Rudolf was born on March 28, 1844 in Preston Company, Virginia, United States. Son of Colonel James Hayes and Mary (Bright) O’Donovan.

Education

Self taught in art; served in Staunton Artillery C.S.A., April 17, 1861, to surrender at Appomattox.

Career

Established studio in New York after war. Has executed many important portrait busts and bas-reliefs, including: William Page, North.A., which was presented to the National Academy Design.

Arthur Quartly, North.A., R. Swain Gifford, North.A., Winslow Homer, North.A., Thomas Elkins, North.A., Edmund Clarence Stedman.

Busts of Walt Whitman and General Joseph Wheeler. Relief of Madame Blavatskey from life, and recently, after 10 years devoted to painting, busts of Generals Daniel East. Sickles and James Grant Wilson.

Statues of Washington for Caracas, Venezuela, for monument commemorating the Peace at Newburgh, New York, for Trenton battle monument. Equestrian statues of Lincoln and Grant for Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Architecture, Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Reliefs for Oriskany battle monument.

Statue of Archbishop Hughes, Saint John's College, Fordham. Memorial tablet to Bayard Taylor, Cornell Univercity, bust of late Charles P. Daly. Statues for soldiers’ monuments in various parts of the country.

One of the 4 founders of the famous Tile Club.

Member Hudson-Fulton Commission, National Committee for the Celebration of Peace Among the English-Speaking Peoples. Advisory member Maine Monument Committee A.N.A., 1878.

Home: New York, New New York

Achievements

• William Rudolf O’Donovan has been listed as a noteworthy sculptor by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

Member Hudson-Fulton Commission, National Committee for the Celebration of Peace Among the English-Speaking Peoples.

Connections

Married Mary Corcoran, 1893.

Father:

Colonel James Hayes O’Donovan

Mother:

Mary (Bright) O’Donovan

Spouse:

Mary Corcoran