Robert White

Who was Robert White?

Robert Winthrop White was a highly respected American sculptor and educator who lived for much of his life in St. James, Long Island, New York. He was a grandson of the architect Stanford White.

Born in New York in 1921, Robert White attended the Portsmouth Priory School in Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island School of Design. He served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II and subsequently taught art at the Parsons School of Design from 1949-1952. He was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome from 1952 to 1955.

From 1967 to 1987, White was an associate professor of art at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Over his artistic career, he created a substantial body of sculptural work, notably a series of evocative neo-classical figures in cast bronze and terra cotta which were shown at the James Graham & Sons Gallery and the Davis Galleries, both in Manhattan. Public sculptures include his 1983 statue of General John J. Pershing, General of the Armies, in Pershing Park, Washington D.C.

He was also an illustrator for clients including Harper's Magazine, and before his death published two illustrated books of poetry, "Casques" and "Dust on the Palace: The Story of a Friendship",.