Elihu Vedder
Keck modeled this portrait of artist Elihu Vedder (1836–1923) while living at the American Academy in Rome. Combining in-the-round and low-relief sculpture, Keck terminated the bust with a frieze of figures inspired by his subject’s drawings for an 1884 edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Instead of following the poem’s original sequence, Keck selected images for compositional and symbolic effect, distilling Vedder’s drawings “The Soul’s Answer,” “The Cup of Death,” “The Cup of Despair,” and “The Magdalen,” among others.
Artwork Details
- Title: Elihu Vedder
- Artist: Charles Keck (American, New York 1875–1951 New York)
- Date: ca. 1904
- Culture: American
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 20 1/4 x 18 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. (51.4 x 46.4 x 24.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles Keck, 1952
- Object Number: 52.152
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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Elihu Vedder
Giovanni Battista Bastianelli
1887, cast 1888
Charles Keck
1916
Charles Keck
1927
Charles Keck
ca. 1903
John Flanagan
Kunst Foundry
1905–24, cast 1924
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