Robert Berks

Robert Berks (April 26, 1922 – May 16, 2011) was an American sculptor, industrial designer and planner. He created hundreds of bronze sculptures and monuments including the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, and the Albert Einstein Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Robert Berks
Born
Robert S. Berks

(1922-04-26)April 26, 1922
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedMay 16, 2011(2011-05-16) (aged 89)
New York City
Occupationsculptor
Known forJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy bust
Spouse(s)Dorothy "Tod" Berks
Children3

Life

He grew up in Hecht House, Boston. He studied at the Boston Museum.[1] In 1953, he married Dorothy “Tod” Berks.[2]

One of Berks's most famous works is a bust of former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy that can be found in the Grand Foyer of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.[2]

A copy of his Bust of Abraham Lincoln was displayed in the Oval Office during the Clinton Administration. Another of his statues, that of the Swedish botanist and physician Carl Linnaeus, can be found in the Heritage Garden of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. In 2005, he donated a sculpture of Einstein to Princeton University.[3] In 2007, he made a sculpture of Fred Rogers for Pittsburgh.[4]

He died on May 16, 2011 at the age of 89 from natural causes.[2]

Public monuments
Louis Brandeis statue at Brandeis University (1956)
Bust of John F. Kennedy located at the Kennedy Center (1971)

References
  1. Duncan, Erika (April 14, 1996). "ENCOUNTERS;A Sculptor Whose Model Is History". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  2. Kelly, Tim (May 17, 2011). "Bob Berks, Orient artist who sculpted images of presidents and popes, dies at 89". The Suffolk Times. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  3. Braun, Candace. "Sculptor Donates Planned Einstein Bust to Princeton". Town Topics. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. McNulty, Timothy (May 23, 2007). "A statue of Mister Rogers will adorn the North Shore". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  5. "Memorial to Brandeis: 9-Foot Statue of Justice to Be Unveiled Nov. 13". The New York Times. April 15, 1956. p. 39. ProQuest 113897312.

Sources
  • James M. Goode: Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979, ISBN 0-87474-138-6


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