Edward Henry Berge was an American sculptor born in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. He is mainly known for his bronze monumental works and figures. He died in his native city.

He studied at the Maryland Institute and was part of the first class of the Rinehart School of Sculpture

William Henry Rinehart

William Henry Rinehart was a noted American sculptor. He is considered "the last important American sculptor to work in the classical style."-Biography:...

, which comprised three boys and four girls, and is currently known as the Maryland Institute College of Art

Maryland Institute College of Art

Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...

. The other two boys were J. Maxwell Miller and Hans Schuler

Hans Schuler

Hans K. Schuler was a German-born American sculptor and monument maker. He was the first American sculptor ever to win the Salon Gold Medal. His works are in several important museum collections, and he also created many public monuments, mostly for locations in Maryland and in the Washington,...

. Upon completion of Rinehart School study, the three went together to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 where they enrolled in the Académie Julian

Académie Julian

The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...

 for three years and studied under Charles Raoul Verlet and Auguste Rodin

Auguste Rodin

François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...

. Edward Berge was a member of the National Sculpture Society

National Sculpture Society

Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...

 and the National Arts Club

National Arts Club

The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...

.

Sculpture

Berge mainly worked in marble and bronze and completed many monuments, portrait busts and relief sculptures, many of which are on display outdoors or in public buildings in Baltimore City, including:

• Armistead, Fort McHenry.
• Chapin A. Harris, Wyman Parkway and 31st St.
• Latrobe, Broadway and Baltimore St.
• On the Trail, Clifton Park.
• Sea Urchin, Johns Hopkins University
  Johns Hopkins University
  The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
  
  .
• War Memorial, Cherry Hill Administration Building.
• Watson, Mt. Royal Terrace at North Ave.
• Wildflower, Homeland Garden.
• Muse Finding the Head of Orpheus, Walters Art Museum
  Walters Art Museum
  The Walters Art Museum, located in Baltimore, Maryland's Mount Vernon neighborhood, is a public art museum founded in 1934. The museum's collection was amassed substantially by two men, William Thompson Walters , who began serious collecting when he moved to Paris at the outbreak of the American...
  
  (original stone maquette), Lorraine Park Cemetery (bronze at Berge family plot).

Further reading

• Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art, Madison, CT: Sound View Press, September 1999.
• Berge, Stephens. Edward Berge: A Short Biography, 1983.
• Naylor, Henry and Caroline. Public Monuments & Sculpture of Baltimore: An Introduction to the Collection, (Bethesda, Md.: The Writer's Center), 1987.
• Baltimore Museum of Art, Memorial Exhibition of Sculpture by Edward Berge. (Baltimore, MD), 1925.