'Elk'

Celebrated for his realistic representations of animals, Edward Kemeys acknowledged his penchant for sculpting at a young age while employed by the Civil Engineering Corps and assisting with the construction of Central Park in New York. In the 1870s, Kemeys traveled to Paris where he further developed his skills while studying with well-known French artist and fellow animal sculptor, Alfred Barye. Inspired by his studies abroad, Kemeys returned to the United States and set out on hunting excursions to the West to observe his subjects firsthand.

Unlike many of his artistic contemporaries, Kemeys placed his bronzes in realistic settings to further emphasize their natural habitat. His works can be seen in Central Park, New York, and Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and are currently in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The artist's anatomical accuracy and intimate understanding of animal movement and behavior established Kemeys as America's foremost sculptor of wildlife of the 19th Century.