Boris Gilbertson

Boris Gilbertson (1907–1982) was an American sculptor.[1]

Boris Gilbertson
Sculpture "American Bison," by Boris Gilbertson at the Main Interior Building, Washington DC
Born	1907 Evanston, Illinois
Died	1982 Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nationality	American
Education	Art Institute of Chicago

Early years

Gilbertson was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1907 to a Norwegian-Russian family and spent much of his childhood with his grandparents outside Chicago, Illinois. He began studies in physics at the University of Chicago but soon switched to art and enrolled at this School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He married Genevieve Van Metre.[2] Gilbertson moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1960. He died in 1982.

His work

Much of Gilbertson's work consisted of sculpted reliefs that were commissions for public buildings, including post office buildings, courthouses and government buildings. Consequently, many are part of the General Services Administration collection and have been transferred to the holdings of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Gallery of Art.[3] His most famous work may be his reliefs in the interior of the Department of the Interior's Main Interior Building in Washington DC.

Selected public artworks

• "Birds and Animals of the Northwest" (1937), eleven limestone reliefs, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin[4]
• "Wild Ducks" (1940), four aluminum panels for the Post office Building in Janesville, Wisconsin, now in storage at Main Post Office in Madison, Wisconsin[5]
• "American Moose" (1940), limestone relief – Main Interior Building, Washington DC[6]
• "American Bison" (1940), limestone relief – Main Interior Building, Washington DC[7]
• "Cow and Calf" (1943) black walnut relief sculpture for Macomb, Illinois Post Office, now in Smithsonian American Art Museum collection[8]

References

1. Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=1804
2. Directory of Living Alumnae of Sweet Briar College, 1940, Sweet Briar College, page 75 https://archive.org/details/directoryoflivin1940unse
3. Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=9084
4. Engendering culture, by Barbara Melosh, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, p. 261
5. Engendering culture, by Barbara Melosh, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, p. 260
6. Engendering culture, by Barbara Melosh, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, p. 261
7. Engendering culture, by Barbara Melosh, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, p. 261
8. "Cow and Calf (completed relief sculpture for Macomb, Illinois Post Office; never installed) by Boris Gilbertson / American Art". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved September 6, 2017.

Selected sources

• White, Charlotte, Greatness in the Commonplace: The Art of Boris Gilbertson Sunstone Press, January 1, 1988

External links

• Works by or about Boris Gilbertson at Internet Archive