Rudulph Evans

Who was Rudulph Evans?

Rudulph Evans, sculptor, was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Virginia. He studied in France at the École des Beaux-Arts; among his fellow students were Auguste Rodin and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. After returning to the United States in 1900, he maintained a studio in New York City. He moved back to Washington, D.C., in 1949. Evans designed the statue of Thomas Jefferson inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Japanese engineer Wado Zato. At the time the memorial was inaugurated, in 1943, due to material shortages during World War II, the statue was of plaster patinated to resemble bronze; the finished bronze, cast by the Roman Bronze Works of New York, was installed in 1949.

His other noted works include the statues of Julius Sterling Morton and of William Jennings Bryan, both in the National Statuary Hall Collection of the United States Capitol. Evans also sculpted the statue of Robert E. Lee in the Virginia State Capitol.

In 1918, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1929.