Lee Lawrie

The work of sculptor Lee Lawrie is associated with some of America’s most noted buildings of the first half of the twentieth century. His stylistic approach evolved with the building styles, ranging from Beaux-Arts to neo-Gothic to art deco. Many of his architectural sculptures were completed for buildings by Bertram Goodhue of Cram & Goodhue, including the chapel at West Point; the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.; the Nebraska State Capitol; the Los Angeles Public Library; St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York; and Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. The sculpture Atlas at Rockefeller Center in New York City is one of his best-known works. He did numerous pieces in Washington, D.C., including the bronze doors of the Adams Building of the Library of Congress, the Octagon House memorial relief, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception south entrance portal, and the interior sculpture of George Washington at the National Cathedral. Lawrie served as a consultant to the 1932 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, and he was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Academy of Design, and the Architectural League of New York. Among his many awards was an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1921 and 1927, a medal of honor from the Architectural League in 1931, and an honorary degree from Yale University. Lawrie began his artistic training in the studios of noted sculptors in the 1890s, including Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Yale University in 1910. He was an instructor in Yale’s School of Fine Arts from 1908 to 1919 and taught in the architecture program at Harvard University from 1910 to 1912.