Adolph Wolter

Who was Adolph Wolter?

Adolph Gustav Wolter van R Wolter was German-born American sculptor, educator, and carver. Wolter was born in Reutlingen, Germany. His father was a stone carver and Wolter apprenticed with him before enrolling in the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. In 1922 he immigrated to the United States and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1933 Wolter arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana, to carve the reliefs on the Indiana State Library; he stayed in Indiana for the remainder of his life.

Wolter graduated from the Herron School of Art and later taught there. He also taught at the Indiana College of Mortuary Science as a professor of "restorative art, " "apparently using his understanding of anatomy to help morticians repair the faces of those who had been in accidents." The use of sculptors to aid in the facial reconstruction of war veterans had already been pioneered by sculptor and medical doctor R. Tait McKenzie, author of Reclaiming the Maimed.

Wolter is remembered for creating both public monuments and architectural sculpture.

Wolter was married to the late Evelyn Crostreet of Indianapolis.