Greg Wyatt

Closeup of Peace Fountain (1985)

Scholar's Lion (2004) on the campus of Columbia University

Greg Wyatt is an American representational sculptor who works primarily in cast bronze,^[1] and is the sculptor-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.^[2]

Wyatt was born and raised in Grand View-on-Hudson, New York. His father was William Stanley Wyatt, a painter and professor of fine arts at Columbia University, Rockland Community College and the City College of New York.^[1] Greg Wyatt graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History.^[1] He attended the National Academy of Design for three years, where he studied classical sculpture, and received his certificate in sculpture, and earned a master's degree in Ceramic Arts from Columbia Teachers College in 1974.^[1] Wyatt has taught at New York University and at Jersey City State College.^[3][4]

Wyatt, who considers himself to be part of a "representational art underground" along with artists such as Kent Ullberg, Anthony Pandovano and Fredrick Hart,^[5] bases his work on the philosophy of "spiritual realism,"^[4] merging realistic images and abstract masses of form, space and energy.^[6] Stanley Wells, a Shakespearian scholar and chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, says, "I compare Wyatt to Rodin. He's that good."^[5] "Wyatt emulates the sculpture of the western world with contemporary vision." ^[3] His works have been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Harvard University, among other institutions and collections,^[6] and can be seen in more than 20 public spaces in cities from New York to Beijing.

In 1972, Wyatt was involved in an accident in his garage studio in Yonkers, New York which he says "defined [his] career", when he poured 150 pounds of melted bronze at 2100 degrees Fahrenheit (1148 degrees Celsius) into a home-made crucible intending to make a casting from the wax mold of the upper torso of a female model named Helaine. The resulting blast blew up the floor, send molten bronze and pellets of Helaine flying and injured the artist's left arm. Wyatt has refused to sell the remains of Helaine, which he dubbed Volcanus.^[5]

A Wyatt sculpture can cost as much as $2.4 million,^[5] and his corporate commissions^[1] have included a bronze statue of J.C. Penney founder James Penney which weighs 3 tons and cost $250,000.^[5]

Notable works

• Fantasy Fountain (1983) – Gramercy Park, New York City^[1]
• Peace Fountain (1985) – The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City
• Victory Eagle (1998) and Hippomenes (1999) – Hofstra University^[3]
• Bill of Rights Eagle (1998) and Tree of Learning (2000) – Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee^[7]
• The Tempest (1999), Hamlet (2000), King Lear (2001), Julius Caesar (2002), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005), Falstaff/Henry IV (2006), Macbeth (2007) and The Winter’s Tale {2008} – Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, England^[1]
• Soaring American Eagle (2000) – bronze, courtyard of the State Department in Washington, D.C.
• The Price of Freedom (2003) – Visitors Center, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
• The Tempest, Julius Caesar, King Lear and Hamlet (2003), Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV, Part 2, and Macbeth (2004) – Elizabethan Garden of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.^[1][8]
• Scholar's Lion (2004) – Columbia University
• Two Sculptors (200?) – Georgetown University Medical School

References

Notes

External links

• "Art Lovers: Sculpture - George Wyatt" images of Peace Fountain, Fantasy Fountain and Scholar's Lion