Biography

Charles Cary Rumsey was born at 1 Johnson Park in Buffalo, NY August 29, 1879 to a prominent pioneer family of merchants and social benefactors. Rumsey received a Nichols School and Harvard education, but it was Rumsey’s journey to Paris as a child in 1893 where he stayed for two years that highly influenced his work. Rumsey served as an apprentice to one of the most prominent American sculptors abroad, sculptor Paul Weyland Bartlett, a champion of Auguste Rodin. Rumsey met Rodin and became familiar with his work and his technique of shaping mass to express emotion. Rumsey was strongly influenced by Rodin’ style and charisma, and later in his life would bring his father and mother-in-law and introduce them to Rodin. Rumsey’s in-laws then commissioned Rodin to do a portrait of E.H. Harriman. When Rumsey returned from Paris at 16 he continued to sculpt while at Harvard. Immediately after graduating Rumsey returned to Paris to study both sculpture and the anatomy of the animal under Emmanuel Fremiet, a specialist in equestrian sculpture, and he continued to create bronze sculptures. Rumsey returned to the United States during his summers and spent part of the time continuing his studies at the Boston Museum of Fine Art where he studied under Bela Lyon Pratt. He exhibited all over the country including in the National Sculpture Exhibitions, and the Chicago Art Institute. In 1917, Rumsey entered the war effort and attained the rank of Captain in a cavalry division and was sent to France. His work was still being shown throughout the country while he was abroad.

Although he was trained in the classical and Beaux-Arts traditions, Rumsey moved from Greek and Roman models toward open-art art where a sculpture’s volume and mass are softened by space. He anticipated the Art Deco trend. His friezes, The Buffalo Hunt, for the Manhattan Bridge, and the four Olympic Games Friezes for the Rice Stadium, Pelham Bay, New York, are examples of art meant to be seen out-of-doors. His prize Jewish war memorial Victory¸ combines classical and later styles. Around 1909, Rumsey began a series of sculptures for the large manor house “Arden” New York, being built by the railroad magnate, Averill H. Harriman (whose daughter, Mary, Rumsey would marry in 1910). One of the sculptors was a large bronze fountain of The Three Graces for the terrace outside.  A recast of The Three Graces fountain was installed in 1987 in Mirror Lake in Buffalo’s Forest Lawn Cemetery where Rumsey is buried. He began to receive many important public commissions such as his 40-foot bas relief panels of Indians, horses and buffalos for the Manhattan Bridge.  Before his early and tragic death in 1922, Charles Cary Rumsey touched on realistic and quasi-impressionist styles. At some points Rumsey tentatively introduced some modernism that was significant enough to be included in the world famous Armory Show held in New York, in 1913. The Armory Show is now credited with the first major introduction of modern art to America.

In 1921, Rumsey’s early Art Deco sculpture, The Pagan, made headlines after being rejected from the prestigious Architectural League of New York exhibition of its controversial avant-garde style. Considered “lewd” and “obscene” by some critics, the statue of a nude reclining female was at the center of both accolades and criticism. Later exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the life-size statue is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of American Art Deco. Sadly, we were never to learn what direction Rumsey’s new style might have taken and how it might have influenced modern American sculpture.

Charles Rumsey died in 1922 at the age of 42 when as a passenger his car was sideswiped in a railroad underpass by an oncoming car that had a tire blowout. He was thrown headfirst against the underpass wall and died of a fractured skull. As stated by Dr. Marius Risley, in his article “Charles Cary Rumsey’s Sculpture Combined with his Love of Art and Sport” in The Gate, he says “A Latin proverb runs Ars longa, vita brevis est: Life is short, but art endures. It could be the epitaph of Charles Cary Rumsey”.
In 1927, the Societe nationale des Beaux-Arts presented an important exhibition of his works and has, since and faithfully celebrated his memory each year as the Rumsey Price for Sculpture has been awarded at the Salon Exhibitions.

Rumsey’s most famous public works currently on display around the world include:

Pizarro, c. 1914, Plaster, and bronze versions also cast for Lima, Peru, and Trujillo, Spain. Pizarro is noted as his most famous work as it exemplifies Rumsey’s knowledge of interaction between horse and rider. The work was originally created for the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915.

Victory, 1921-22, Limestone Relief. Was commissioned and to be dedicated to the Jewish soldiers and sailors who died in the First World War. The setting of the sculpture was a severe cubic structure on a raised base. Victory exhibits a tall female figure in a striding pose with a sword in her right hand and a shield on her left arm. She has a true sense of movement. This was a personal and public achievement of great American architectural sculpture. He would pass soon after created this work, but the style of Victory produced new ideas on how to produce public sculpture.

Buffalo Hunt Frieze- Manhattan Bridge, 1916, Bronze, 6’ x 40’. This work displays severely flattened figures to suit the needs of the bridges architecture. The work consists of Indians and horses, a subject well known and produced by Rumsey.

Three Graces, Bronze. A cast of this work is currently on display at the Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York. The work was originally built as a large fountain for the terrace of a large manor house “Arden”, built by Averill H. Harriman, the father of Mary Harriman who was Rumsey’s wife.

Smithtown Bull, Bronze, Smithtown, Long Island. John Smith, the founder and English settler of Smithtown, was challenged by the Indians to ride around Smithtown on the famous bull “Whisper” and if he succeeded he could keep whatever land he circled while riding the bull. The John Smith family commissioned Rumsey to create a sculpture of the Bull to represent the town.  Bull remains in Smithtown as their landmark.

End of the Trail, Bronze. End of the Trail was in front of the Brooklyn Museum for fifty years, but was moved to its current home at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn, New York. The work still represented as one of the best known American Indian images to the last four generations in this country and around the world.

Centaur, Bronze. Buffalo, New York. Centaur stands at the Knox-Albright Art Gallery, in Buffalo, New York. Centaur represents a time in Rumsey’s career where he focused on mythological figures.