Wheeler Williams

Alt text: Art Deco sculpture of a topless woman with fabric draped around her arms and torso

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972)
Maya, 1927
Bronze, Black green patina
21 1/2 h. x 8 1/4 w. x 4 1/4 d. inches.

Alt text: Bronze bust of the head of a boxer

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972)
The Boxer, 1924
Bronze, Black Patina
8 1/16 h. x 4 1/8 w. x 5 1/6 d. inches
Signed: Wheeler Williams ’24

Alt text: bronze sculpture of a female torso

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972)
Torso
Bronze, dark brown patina
5 H. x 2 1/4 W. x 3 D. inches
Signed right lower edge: Wheeler Williams

Alt text: Bronze bust of a Cherokee horse mounted on a marble base, right facing view

Alt text: Bronze bust of a Cherokee horse mounted on a marble base, frontal view

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972)
Cherokee, 1936
Bronze. Unique cast. Brown and black patina
Signed left rear: WHEELER. WILLIAMS.
Inscribed left underside: A . BASKY . F’DRY . N.Y.
15 H. x 13 ¼ W. x 8 ¾ D. inches
Variegated green marble base: 9 ½ H. x 8 ¼ W. x 8 ¼ D. inches
Titled on front of base: CHEROKEE
Overall height: 24 ½ inches

Provenance:
The Artist, by direct descent

Literature:
The National Sculpture Society, “The American Sculptors Series: WheelerWilliams,” (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1947): ill. p. 40 (half-life-size version, 1936, illustrated)

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Alt text: Signature detail of a bronze sculpture of a muse

Alt text: Underside of a bronze sculpture of a muse

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972)
Euterpe, 1935
Bronze, brown patina
16 H. x 12 W. x 6 D. inches
Signed on rear of base: Wheeler Williams ’35 / ©

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972)
Flight of the Arrow, 1939
Gilt Bronze, 23 3/4 H. x 21 1/2 W. x 8 1/2 D. inches
Unique Cast
Signed and dated right front base:
Wheeler Williams, 1931

Artist Description

Williams studied sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He attended Yale where he graduated Magna cum Laude in 1919. He received a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard in 1922. Williams studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

He 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.