Wheeler Williams

Wheeler Williams (November 30, 1897 – August 12, 1972) was an American sculptor.
Early life and education
Williams was born in Chicago and studied sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. He attended Yale University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1919. He received a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University in 1922. Williams studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Career
Williams was one of a dozen sculptors invited to compete in the Pioneer Woman statue competition in 1927, which he failed to win. His model for that competition was later enlarged, cast and placed in front of the public library in Liberty, Kansas.
Williams was a recipient of a Gould Medal at the Paris Exposition in 1937. He was a member of the National Academy, past president of the Fine Arts Federation of New York, and longtime president of the National Sculpture Society. Wheeler was also the founder and president of the American Artist Professional League.
Political involvement
Williams was a supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee's search for communist "reds" in the arts. He also protested the Congressional censure of Joseph McCarthy.
Williams also served on the jury for the Alger Hiss treason trial.
Very active in the Republican Party, many of Williams' commissions reflect his conservative positions, including his work on the Robert A. Taft Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Public monuments
1930 "Tablets to Pioneers", Michigan Avenue Bridge, Chicago
1935 "Communications" West Pediment of the Environmental Protection Agency Building (formerly Interstate Commerce Commission), Federal Triangle, Washington, D.C.
1938 "Indian Bowman," United States Post Office-Canal Street Station, New York City
1942 "Settlers of the Seaboard", Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
1949 "The Venus of Manhattan", Madison Avenue Facade, Parke Bernet Gallery, New York City
1951 four servicemen sculpture on the Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Cambridge, England
1952 "Fountain of the Water Babies", Children's Hospital, Seattle
1952 "Wave of Life", Houston Main Building (HMB) of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; was the Prudential S.W. regional office until 1974, Houston
1955 "Robert A. Taft" plaque, Indian Hill Church Cemetery, Indian Hill, Ohio
1956 "Colonel Robert R. McCormick" bronze sculpture, Colonel's Place, Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada
1956 Commodore John Barry Memorial, Wexford, Ireland
1959 "Robert A. Taft Memorial," Capitol Grounds, Washington, D.C.
1960 "Muse of the Missouri" Fountain, Kansas City, Missouri
1961 "Spring, Summer, Fall," Memphis, Tennessee
References
"Questioning 'Modern'", August 23, 1942, The New York Times
"Petition Drive Set To Back McCarthy", November 15, 1954, The New York Times
"Hiss Offers Not Guilty Plea", December 17, 1948, The New York Times
Goode, James M. The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C., Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1974
Gurney, George, Sculpture and the Federal Triangle, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1985
1897 births
1972 deaths
20th-century American male artists
20th-century American sculptors
American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts
American architectural sculptors
American male sculptors
Artists from Chicago
Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni
National Sculpture Society members
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
Sculptors from Illinois
Section of Painting and Sculpture artists
Yale University alumni