Frederick G. R Roth

Frederick George Richard Roth was a leading American animal sculptor in the early 20th century.  Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1872 he received his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Meyerheim, and in Berlin under Edmund von Hellmer.  Roth also attended veterinary school, where he gained intimate knowledge of animal anatomies.  He is very well known for his life-sized bronze sculpture of the famous Siberian husky, Balto, 1925.  Balto was the lead of the dog sled that delivered the diphtheria serum from Anchorage to Nome Alaska, an event commemorated annually by the Iditarod.  The bronze is in New York City’s Central Park, and it won him the National Academy of Design’s Speyer Prize.  He is also renowned for his numerous sculptures and bas reliefs at the Central Park Zoo.

Throughout his life Roth was always an active member of the art community.  He was a member of the Associate National Academy of Design, the New York Architectural League, the National Institute Art League, the Society of American Artists, the National Sculpture Society, the New Society of Artists, and the Society of Animal Painters and Sculptors.  Today his work can be found in collections through the United States including: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Cincinnati Museum; the Children’s Museum, Boston; the San Francisco Museum; Museum, Newark; and Equestrian Washington, Morristown, NJ.