Call Number:

04

Repository:

James A. Michener Art Museum Archives

Extent:

13.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

circa 1930s-1995

Creator:

Rudy, Charles, 1904-

Abstract:

Charles Rudy (1904-1986) achieved national status as a sculptor for his work on public buildings across the United States, as well as for his prize-winning sculptures. His work has been exhibited at such prestigious institutions as the Corcoran Gallery, the Carnegie Institute, and the National Sculpture Society, as well as at local Bucks County, Pennsylvania galleries. Charles Rudy papers, circa 1930s-1995, includes an extensive compilation of newspaper and magazine clippings, sketchbooks, exhibition catalogues, and correspondence documenting Charles Rudy's career as an artist. There are also photographs and a small amount of personal papers.

Charles Rudy (1904-1986) achieved national status as a sculptor for his work on public buildings across the United States, as well as for his prize-winning sculptures. His most famous commissions included Noah on the Bronx post office in New York, the Sun Seaman's Memorial in Delaware, and the Confederate War Memorial on Stone Mountain in Georgia. Some Pennsylvania commissions are the frieze on the Lehigh County court house, two bas-relief profiles of Benjamin Franklin on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, and the flagpole base outside the University of Pennsylvania. His work has been exhibited at such prestigious institutions as the Corcoran Gallery, the Carnegie Institute, and the National Sculpture Society, as well as at local Bucks County galleries. One of his most popular sculptures, The Letter, won a gold medal award from the National Sculpture Society. Rudy's artistic development started in the stained glass studio of his father, artist J. Horace Rudy, and continued during his education at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. A 1942 Guggenheim fellow, Rudy taught as the head of Cooper Union's sculpture department for ten years. He also held teaching positions at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art, Michigan State College, and Philadelphia Museum School of Art.

Bibliography:

James A. Michener Art Museum. "Charles Rudy." Accessed September 13, 2016. http://www.michenerartmuseum.org/bucksartists/artist/210/.

The collection includes an extensive compilation of newspaper and magazine clippings, exhibition catalogues and correspondence documenting Charles Rudy's career as an artist. Sketchbooks, drawings, notes on techniques and patinas, and blueprints for commissioned works are included, as well as materials such as photographs, clippings, and postcards of subject matter and works of art that may have been used as inspiration for the artist's work. Personal items include correspondence, handmade cards made by the artist for his wife, photographs of the artist, his wife and friends (including George Sotter), Doctor of Humane Letters certificate from York College dated 1981, insurance papers, invoices, and banking and tax documents. The collection also holds drawings of stained glass windows created by J. Horace Rudy, the artist's father. There is also correspondence between the artist, his wife, and the James A. Michener Art Museum.

The collection is arranged into eight groupings: Correspondence and official papers Newspaper and magazine clippings Sketches Negatives Postcards Watercolor paints Camera Measuring devices

A more detailed finding aid, biographical note, or inventory for this collection may be available on-site or on the Michener Archives finding aid page: http://www.michenerartmuseum.org/collections-research/archives/finding-aids/.