Randolph Rogers
Randolph Rogers (1825-1892) was born in Seneca, New York and was eight years old when his family moved to Michigan (his family’s home still stands at the corner of N. Division and E. Ann), where he spent 10 years working various jobs (oldnews.aadl.org). He worked at a bakery, flour mill, and made several advertisements for the Ann Arbor newspaper called the Argus (oldnews.aadl.org). Later, he was hired at a dry goods store in New York where he worked from 1842 to 1848. During his years there his incredible talent was noticed by the store owners and to his good, they fortune funded his expenses to go to Florence (oldnews.aadl.org). After studying at the fine arts academy there, he went on to work in Rome where he became a very successful sculptor (oldnews.aadl.org). He remained in Rome for the rest of his adult life except when he visited the U.S. for business (collections.lacma.org). He was commissioned in several different states, including work on the doors of the capital building in D.C (aoc.gov). After his stroke in 1882 he donated all of his papers and casts from his studio in Rome to the University of Michigan . Currently, Nydia, the blind girl is on display at the University of Michigan Art Museum (four other works are in storage). The rest of his donated worked were lost due the high humidity in basement storages beneath university hall (see the First University Library) (public-art.umich.edu).
Since he was an eminent 19th century artist, he made many copies of his sculptures and for example, on the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, near other 19th century American works if note, there is a Randolph Rogers Nydia like the one at the UMMA.
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