Joe Brown (sculptor)

Benjamin Franklin - Craftsman (1981), Philadelphia, PA.

Joe Brown (March 20, 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania March 14, 1985 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American figurative sculptor, specializing in athletes.

Career

The son of Russian immigrants, he grew up in South Philadelphia and graduated South Philadelphia High School in 1926. A gifted athlete, he won a 1927 football scholarship to Temple University. He left before graduation, and briefly worked as a professional boxer. He made extra money as an artists' model, and became interested in studying sculpture. He served a 7-year apprenticeship under University of Pennsylvania professor and sculptor R. Tait McKenzie.[1]

Brown became the boxing coach at Princeton University in 1937, continuing until the early 1960s. He began teaching a sculpting course in 1939, became a resident artist at the university, and was made a full professor of art in 1962. He continued teaching at Princeton until his 1977 retirement.

He created more than 400 works - statuettes, portrait busts, and sculptures.[2] Examples are on many college campuses, and in the collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,[3] the National Academy of Design,[4] Princeton University Art Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library,[5] and the National Art Museum of Sport.[6]

Selected sculptures

Statuettes

Portrait busts

Full-Swing at Citizens Bank Park.
Play at Second Base, showing the detailed footwork of the game

Larger-than-life

Veterans Stadium

Four of Brown's sculptures graced Veterans Stadium from 1976 to 2003. Removed priot to the 2004 demolition, the sculptures were restored and relocated in 2005. They are now located near Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

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