Roy King
Encyclopedia
Roy Elwood King was an American born sculptor, painter and civil engineer.
.
King attended the University of Richmond
until 1924 when he transferred to the Ohio School of Commercial Art and the Cleveland School of Fine Arts for a year. Moving to New York he studied with the Art Students' League, where he learned anatomy from George Bridgman
, and at the same time studied at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design from about 1925 to 1933. At Beaux Arts Institute of Design (BAID) Roy King studied drawing and sculpting from a number of fine artists, Lee Lawrie
, C. Paul Jennewein
, Ulric Ellerhusen
, and Edward McCartan
among others. Roy mastered their styles and form so perfectly that they relied upon him to accomplish many parts of their commissions.
1927 - Design and modeling for Bertram Goodhue's
Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the University of Chicago Rockefeller Chapel
, Chicago, Illinois as Assistant to Ulric Ellerhusen
and Lee Lawrie
, Designing Sculptors.
1929-1930 - Design and modeling buttress figures and decorative panels for Nebraska State Capitol
, State Library of Pennsylvania
Harrisburg Pennsylvania, bronze doors and gates at Pennsylvania State College, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
, New York Central Portal and others as Assistant Sculptor to Lee Lawrie.
1931 – Design and modeling of friezes, tower grills and the corner figures on top of the tower with Art Deco design for the Louisiana State Capitol
at Baton Rouge, Louisiana as Assistant to Ulric Ellerhusen.
1931 – Design and modeling of Bronze Sundial also known as the Tiffany Bench with the words "This garden given in memory of Katrina Ely Tiffany of the class of 1897" for Bryn Mawr College
.
1932 – Design and modeling details and panels of the George Rogers Clark Memorial in George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
at Vincennes, Indiana
working with Joseph Kiselewski
.
1933 - Design and modeling for panels in the United States Solicitor General
's Office and Four Winds Reliefs for the Department of Justice Building assisting Sculptor C. Paul Jennewein
.
1933 – Design, modeling and execution of a large frieze on the Columbus, Ohio Post Office with C. Paul Jennewein.
1934 - Enlarged Bryant Baker
's 2 small models for the U.S. Senate Building to 8 foot size of Caesar Rodney
(located in the Crypt) and the other of John Middleton Clayton (located in the Senate connecting corridor, 2nd floor).
1934 - Design, modeling and execution four panels of Characters in American Literature. The panels for the Library were of Evangeline
, Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn
, Rip Van Winkle
, and Hawkeye
and an Indian Brave for Library of Grover Cleveland High School
, Ridgewood, Long Island
, New York.
1935 - Won the Public Works of Art Project
design competition for the Cadet Mess
, Washington Hall, West Point, New York. Designed, modeled, carved and installed figures of the Four Virtues of Military Service: Scholarship, Loyalty, Physical Vigor, and Military Leadership. Each statue is 13 feet tall, carved in limestone
, with a combined weight of 16 tons.
1935 - Designed, modeled and carved a bust in Greek pentelic marble of General Alexander S. Webb
of College of the City of New York
for the school.
1937 – Won and completed a sculptural award from The U.S. Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture
to do a walnut wooden panel sculpture called “Pennsylvania Farming” for the Post Office 230 Market Street, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania (see page 6).
1938 - Won and completed a sculptural award for his design of “Old Salt” or "The Sailor" which was displayed under the Norwegian flag in the Court of Nations and for his figure of "Aviation" at the entrance to Iceland Building. He designed, enlarged and mounted these 13’ figures for 1939 Worlds Fair in New York.
1939 - Designed, modeled and carved in collaboration with the architect, Vladimir Ossipoff
the sculptural decoration, a symbolic representation of humanity, a figure appealing to medicine as symbolized by the caduceus, over the main entrance of the Medical Group building located in Honolulu, Hawaii on Punchbowl Street between Hotel and Beretania Streets.
1939–1940 Awarded the commission from Charles William Dickey
(1871–1942), the Architect, to do the carved interior doors and cast concrete exterior leaf decorations on the Mabel Smyth Building, renamed the Queen's Conference Center for The Queen's Medical Center
.
1940 - Designed, modeled and carved US Marine Emblem
3'x3' monkey pod wood for Camp Catlin Entrance, Pearl Harbor
, Hawaii.
1941 - Designed, modeled and carved the seal over the entrance for Architect Val Ossipoff's Outrigger Canoe Club just below Diamond Head
, Hawaii in Waikiki
.
1942 - Won and completed a sculptural award from the U.S. Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture
(Fine Arts) competition to carve two figures in monkey pod wood located in the Post Office at Schofield Barracks, Oahu.
1942–1944 - Won the competition to create a War Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, honoring all 880 Americans of Hawaii who died in World War II. He designed, carved, cast and erected the structure, located on King Street at Punchbowl Street near the King Kamehameha Statue
and across the street from Iolani Palace. “IN HONOR OF ALL AMERICANS OF HAWAII WHO DIED IN THIS WORLD WAR, THAT THE BEAUTY AND FREEDOM OF OUR LAND MIGHT BE PRESERVED FOR ALL HUMANITY.”
1945 - Awarded the commission from architect Charles William Dickey
(1871–1942) to design, model and carve a second War Memorial, this time out of Vermont Danby Imperial white marble for Kalakaua Park
in Hilo on the Island of Hawaii
. 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and 6 feet high, with 157 names of Big Island war dead inscribed on top, a lily pond reflects one side of the monument showing a central figure, a winged composite fighting man, representing all combat forces. He is the spirit of men who fight in order to live in peace. On either side of him are the people of the world living and working together in harmony. The back is inscribed with “That their spirit may guide us to an ever living peace among all mankind.”
1946 - Commissioned to design, model and carve local foliage and plants in the 12 capitals of the columns for the nave interior of Episcopal St. Andrew’s Cathedral
, Queen Emma Square, Honolulu. Each is different and dedicated to a family of the church.
1946 - Commissioned to design, model and carve candelabra
and design, model and create a long series of cast-stone pot planters, produced in pairs, which graduated in size from about a foot high to an enormous pair about as tall as a man and weighing hundreds of pounds for the Catholic Cathedral in central Honolulu.
1947 - Commissioned to design, model and execute sculpture and decorations for McInerny’s Ltd. Department Store located at Fort and King Streets in Honolulu. First, he carved out of native Koa wood a large, 8 foot by 10 foot, sculptural logo of the company, the “house-mark”, for the exterior of the building. Second, he carved massive Hawaiian gods, Ku and Hina in existing lava rock 3’x3’x8’ for the Men’s department. Ku, the male element, the architect and builder of Hawaiian theology, and Hina, the female element, earth mother, were used in ancient ceremonies and worshipped in the temples. Located on the basement level of the building, these were the columns supporting the main floor beams.
1948 - Commissioned to design and model the bronze tablet monument at the top of the Pali
on Oahu. Seen by millions as they gaze at the valley below it commemorates the Pali fiftieth anniversary of road constructed in 1897 and completed in 1898.
1949 - Commissioned to design, model and carve the marble sculpture of the territorial seal for the main entrance of the new territorial welfare building, Queen Liliuokalani Building. The figure on the left represents an ancient Hawaiian king and the figure on the right American patriotism. The motto “Ua Mau Ke Eao Kaaina Ika Pono” “The life of the land is preserved in righteousness” in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1951 - Commissioned to design, model and cast stone grilles for the multistoried Y. M. C. A. Building in Waikiki at 404 Atkinson Drive, Hawaii.
1952 - Commissioned to design, model and carve wood and stone Hawaiian gods, Ku
and Hina
, for the exterior and for the interior wood table lamps and introduce the use of local sandstone facings for the façade of the McInerny’s Waikiki store.
1938 - after finishing projects for the World’s Fair he and his wife, Nora, moved to Hawaii. Besides his monumental works he did there he did many small works, became popular in the local exhibits and active in the Honolulu of Artists' Association.
1942–1953 - Taught figure drawing and sculpture at the University of Hawaii
, Extension Division.
1949 - Roy was chosen to be President of the Honolulu Artists’ Association.
1941–1946 and 1950–1971 – Civil Engineer
- With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 Hawaiian residents had to have essential jobs. Roy worked his way up to becoming a Senior Civil Engineer with the Navy. He left in 1946, but returned in 1950 to Pearl Harbor as an Administrative Construction Engineer, and stayed with the Federal Government until he retired after a 30 year career.
Leaving Hawaii in 1956 his positions with the Government took him first to California, then Texas, and finally New Hampshire. His last work was with General Services Administration
in Boston as Construction Management Engineer with projects of million dollar post offices and federal buildings.
King worked on many commissions and exhibited his art until his death at home in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
August 29, 1986
King was a member of the National Sculpture Society
.
1931 - Municipal Exhibition of Radio City Music Hall
1932 - Richmond Academy of Art, VA
1933 – and other dates - National Sculpture Society
1935 - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1935 - American Architectural Society
1939 - and other dates - Honolulu Academy of Arts
1960 - "Venus", a standing nude carved in Austin stone, was shown in the Dallas Museum of Art
show and traveling exhibition throughout Texas for all of 1960.
1960 - A portrait head of Paul King, Roy had sculpted of his son in California, won the Esther Tyrrell Garth Memorial Award which placed the head in the permanent collection of the Beaumont Art Museum
in Beaumont, Texas.
1962 – Corning Glass Company, NY exhibit
1964-1965 – Doll and Richards Gallery, Boston, MA
2009 and continuing - Smithsonian American Art Museum, Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture
Early life
Roy E. King was born November 22, 1903 in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
King attended the University of Richmond
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
until 1924 when he transferred to the Ohio School of Commercial Art and the Cleveland School of Fine Arts for a year. Moving to New York he studied with the Art Students' League, where he learned anatomy from George Bridgman
George Bridgman
George Brant Bridgman was a Canadian-American painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New York for some 45 years....
, and at the same time studied at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design from about 1925 to 1933. At Beaux Arts Institute of Design (BAID) Roy King studied drawing and sculpting from a number of fine artists, Lee Lawrie
Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie was one of the United States' foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II...
, C. Paul Jennewein
C. Paul Jennewein
Carl Paul Jennewein was a German-born American sculptor.-Early career:Jennewein was born in Stuttgart in Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1907....
, Ulric Ellerhusen
Ulric Ellerhusen
Ulric Henry Ellerhusen first name variously cited as Ulrich or Ulrik, surname sometimes cited as Ellerhousen) was a German-American sculptor and teacher best known for his architectural sculpture....
, and Edward McCartan
Edward McCartan
Edward Francis McCartan was an American sculptor, best known for his decorative bronzes done in an elegant style popular in the 1920s.-Life:He studied at the Pratt Institute, with Herbert Adams....
among others. Roy mastered their styles and form so perfectly that they relied upon him to accomplish many parts of their commissions.
Architectural and Some Commissioned Sculptures
1927 – Design and modeling the Lotus Shaft Fountain in the Los Angeles (Central) Public Library Children’s Court as commissioned by Lee Lawrie.1927 - Design and modeling for Bertram Goodhue's
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the University of Chicago Rockefeller Chapel
Rockefeller Chapel
Rockefeller Chapel is, by order, the tallest building on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. It was meant by patron John D...
, Chicago, Illinois as Assistant to Ulric Ellerhusen
Ulric Ellerhusen
Ulric Henry Ellerhusen first name variously cited as Ulrich or Ulrik, surname sometimes cited as Ellerhousen) was a German-American sculptor and teacher best known for his architectural sculpture....
and Lee Lawrie
Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie was one of the United States' foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II...
, Designing Sculptors.
1929-1930 - Design and modeling buttress figures and decorative panels for Nebraska State Capitol
Nebraska State Capitol
The Nebraska State Capitol, located in Lincoln, Nebraska, is the house of the Nebraska Legislature and houses other offices of the government of the U.S. state of Nebraska....
, State Library of Pennsylvania
State Library of Pennsylvania
The State Library of Pennsylvania is one of the largest research libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Office of Commonwealth Libraries, within the Pennsylvania Department of Education, has holdings in almost every area of human concern...
Harrisburg Pennsylvania, bronze doors and gates at Pennsylvania State College, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the City and Diocese of New York, is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York...
, New York Central Portal and others as Assistant Sculptor to Lee Lawrie.
1931 – Design and modeling of friezes, tower grills and the corner figures on top of the tower with Art Deco design for the Louisiana State Capitol
Louisiana State Capitol
The Louisiana State Capitol building is the capitol building of the state of Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge. The capitol houses the Louisiana State Legislature, the governor's office, and parts of the executive branch...
at Baton Rouge, Louisiana as Assistant to Ulric Ellerhusen.
1931 – Design and modeling of Bronze Sundial also known as the Tiffany Bench with the words "This garden given in memory of Katrina Ely Tiffany of the class of 1897" for Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
.
1932 – Design and modeling details and panels of the George Rogers Clark Memorial in George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, located in Vincennes on the banks of the Wabash River at what is believed to be the site of Fort Sackville, is a United States National Historical Park. A classical memorial here was authorized under President Calvin Coolidge and dedicated by President...
at Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
working with Joseph Kiselewski
Joseph Kiselewski
Joseph Kiselewski was an American sculptor.Kiselewski was born in Browerville, Minnesota, graduating from the Minneapolis School of Art. Along with many other artists of the time, Kiselewski moved to New York City where he studied at the National Academy of Design and at BAID. From 1922 to 1926...
.
1933 - Design and modeling for panels in the United States Solicitor General
United States Solicitor General
The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
's Office and Four Winds Reliefs for the Department of Justice Building assisting Sculptor C. Paul Jennewein
C. Paul Jennewein
Carl Paul Jennewein was a German-born American sculptor.-Early career:Jennewein was born in Stuttgart in Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1907....
.
1933 – Design, modeling and execution of a large frieze on the Columbus, Ohio Post Office with C. Paul Jennewein.
1934 - Enlarged Bryant Baker
Bryant Baker
Percy Bryant Baker was a British-born American sculptor.-Life and career:Baker was born on 8 July 1881 in London, England, the son and grandson of sculptors and stone carvers and the brother of sculptor Robert Baker...
's 2 small models for the U.S. Senate Building to 8 foot size of Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney was an American lawyer and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, east of Dover...
(located in the Crypt) and the other of John Middleton Clayton (located in the Senate connecting corridor, 2nd floor).
1934 - Design, modeling and execution four panels of Characters in American Literature. The panels for the Library were of Evangeline
Evangeline
Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, is an epic poem published in 1847 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.The idea for the poem came from...
, Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
and Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic Mark Twain novel.Huckleberry Finn may also refer to:*Huckleberry Finn , a fictional character in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
, Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle
"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it was part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon...
, and Hawkeye
Natty Bumppo
Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo is the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's pentalogy of novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales.- Fictional biography :...
and an Indian Brave for Library of Grover Cleveland High School
Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)
Grover Cleveland High School is a large, comprehensive high school in Ridgewood, Queens. Grover Cleveland High School, Samuel J. Tilden High School, Abraham Lincoln High School, John Adams High School, and Bayside High School were all built during the Great Depression from one set of blueprints, in...
, Ridgewood, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York.
1935 - Won the Public Works of Art Project
Public Works of Art Project
The Public Works of Art Project was a program to employ artists, as part of the New Deal, during the Great Depression. It was the first such program, running from December 1933 to June 1934...
design competition for the Cadet Mess
United States Military Academy grounds and facilities
The United States Military Academy and grounds were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960 due to the Revolutionary War history and the age and historic significance of the Academy itself. The majority of the buildings in the central cadet area are historic...
, Washington Hall, West Point, New York. Designed, modeled, carved and installed figures of the Four Virtues of Military Service: Scholarship, Loyalty, Physical Vigor, and Military Leadership. Each statue is 13 feet tall, carved in limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, with a combined weight of 16 tons.
1935 - Designed, modeled and carved a bust in Greek pentelic marble of General Alexander S. Webb
Alexander S. Webb
Alexander Stewart Webb was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg...
of College of the City of New York
College of the City of New York
The College of the City of New York is the former name of New York University's undergraduate college when the university was named "University of the City of New York"....
for the school.
1937 – Won and completed a sculptural award from The U.S. Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture
Section of Painting and Sculpture
The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture , commonly known as "the Section," was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury....
to do a walnut wooden panel sculpture called “Pennsylvania Farming” for the Post Office 230 Market Street, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania (see page 6).
1938 - Won and completed a sculptural award for his design of “Old Salt” or "The Sailor" which was displayed under the Norwegian flag in the Court of Nations and for his figure of "Aviation" at the entrance to Iceland Building. He designed, enlarged and mounted these 13’ figures for 1939 Worlds Fair in New York.
1939 - Designed, modeled and carved in collaboration with the architect, Vladimir Ossipoff
Vladimir Ossipoff
Vladimir ‘Val’ Ossipoff was an American architect best known for his works in Hawaii.Vladimir Ossipoff was born November 25, 1907 in Vladivostok, Russia, but grew up in Tokyo, Japan, where his father was a military attaché of the Russian embassy, and emigrated to the United States in 1923...
the sculptural decoration, a symbolic representation of humanity, a figure appealing to medicine as symbolized by the caduceus, over the main entrance of the Medical Group building located in Honolulu, Hawaii on Punchbowl Street between Hotel and Beretania Streets.
1939–1940 Awarded the commission from Charles William Dickey
Charles William Dickey
Charles William “C.W.” Dickey was an American architect famous for developing a distinctive style of Hawaiian architecture...
(1871–1942), the Architect, to do the carved interior doors and cast concrete exterior leaf decorations on the Mabel Smyth Building, renamed the Queen's Conference Center for The Queen's Medical Center
The Queen's Medical Center
The Queen's Medical Center, originally called Queen's Hospital is an acute private non-profit hospital in downtown Honolulu founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV.-Description:...
.
1940 - Designed, modeled and carved US Marine Emblem
Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor is the official emblem and insignia of the United States Marine Corps. The current emblem traces its roots in the designs and ornaments of the early Continental Marines as well as the British Royal Marines. The present emblem, adopted in 1966, differs from the emblem of...
3'x3' monkey pod wood for Camp Catlin Entrance, Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Hawaii.
1941 - Designed, modeled and carved the seal over the entrance for Architect Val Ossipoff's Outrigger Canoe Club just below Diamond Head
Diamond Head, Hawaii
Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēahi, most likely from lae 'browridge, promontory' plus ahi 'tuna' because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin...
, Hawaii in Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
.
1942 - Won and completed a sculptural award from the U.S. Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture
Section of Painting and Sculpture
The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture , commonly known as "the Section," was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury....
(Fine Arts) competition to carve two figures in monkey pod wood located in the Post Office at Schofield Barracks, Oahu.
1942–1944 - Won the competition to create a War Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, honoring all 880 Americans of Hawaii who died in World War II. He designed, carved, cast and erected the structure, located on King Street at Punchbowl Street near the King Kamehameha Statue
Kamehameha Statue
Several Kamehameha Statues honor the monarch who founded the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Gould's work:One stands prominently in front of Aliiolani Hale in Honolulu, Hawaii. The statue had its origins in 1878 when Walter M. Gibson, a member of the Hawaiian government at the time, wanted to commemorate the...
and across the street from Iolani Palace. “IN HONOR OF ALL AMERICANS OF HAWAII WHO DIED IN THIS WORLD WAR, THAT THE BEAUTY AND FREEDOM OF OUR LAND MIGHT BE PRESERVED FOR ALL HUMANITY.”
1945 - Awarded the commission from architect Charles William Dickey
Charles William Dickey
Charles William “C.W.” Dickey was an American architect famous for developing a distinctive style of Hawaiian architecture...
(1871–1942) to design, model and carve a second War Memorial, this time out of Vermont Danby Imperial white marble for Kalakaua Park
Kalakaua Park
Kalākaua Park is the central "town square" of the city of Hilo, Hawaii. It is surrounded by historic buildings and includes a war memorial.-History:...
in Hilo on the Island of Hawaii
Hawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
. 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and 6 feet high, with 157 names of Big Island war dead inscribed on top, a lily pond reflects one side of the monument showing a central figure, a winged composite fighting man, representing all combat forces. He is the spirit of men who fight in order to live in peace. On either side of him are the people of the world living and working together in harmony. The back is inscribed with “That their spirit may guide us to an ever living peace among all mankind.”
1946 - Commissioned to design, model and carve local foliage and plants in the 12 capitals of the columns for the nave interior of Episcopal St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, Honolulu
The Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, also commonly known as St. Andrew's Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States located in the State of Hawaii...
, Queen Emma Square, Honolulu. Each is different and dedicated to a family of the church.
Candelabra
"Candelabra" is the traditional term for a set of multiple decorative candlesticks, each of which often holds a candle on each of multiple arms or branches connected to a column or pedestal...
and design, model and create a long series of cast-stone pot planters, produced in pairs, which graduated in size from about a foot high to an enormous pair about as tall as a man and weighing hundreds of pounds for the Catholic Cathedral in central Honolulu.
1947 - Commissioned to design, model and execute sculpture and decorations for McInerny’s Ltd. Department Store located at Fort and King Streets in Honolulu. First, he carved out of native Koa wood a large, 8 foot by 10 foot, sculptural logo of the company, the “house-mark”, for the exterior of the building. Second, he carved massive Hawaiian gods, Ku and Hina in existing lava rock 3’x3’x8’ for the Men’s department. Ku, the male element, the architect and builder of Hawaiian theology, and Hina, the female element, earth mother, were used in ancient ceremonies and worshipped in the temples. Located on the basement level of the building, these were the columns supporting the main floor beams.
1948 - Commissioned to design and model the bronze tablet monument at the top of the Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
on Oahu. Seen by millions as they gaze at the valley below it commemorates the Pali fiftieth anniversary of road constructed in 1897 and completed in 1898.
1949 - Commissioned to design, model and carve the marble sculpture of the territorial seal for the main entrance of the new territorial welfare building, Queen Liliuokalani Building. The figure on the left represents an ancient Hawaiian king and the figure on the right American patriotism. The motto “Ua Mau Ke Eao Kaaina Ika Pono” “The life of the land is preserved in righteousness” in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1951 - Commissioned to design, model and cast stone grilles for the multistoried Y. M. C. A. Building in Waikiki at 404 Atkinson Drive, Hawaii.
1952 - Commissioned to design, model and carve wood and stone Hawaiian gods, Ku
Ku
Ku, KU, Kū or ku may refer to:Science:* Ku band, a band of microwave radio frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum* Ku , a protein involved in DNA repair...
and Hina
Hina (goddess)
Hina is the name of several different goddesses and women in Polynesian mythology. In some traditions, the trickster and culture hero Maui has a wife named Hina, as do the gods Tane and Tangaroa. Hina is often associated with the moon....
, for the exterior and for the interior wood table lamps and introduce the use of local sandstone facings for the façade of the McInerny’s Waikiki store.
Later career
Even while working with the major sculptors of the 1920s and early 1930s he established himself as a sculptor in his own right. He performed many small commissions, such as busts and figures for various Federal projects. By 1935 his work was independent of his earlier teachers. He married in 1935 and still made his home in New York City.1938 - after finishing projects for the World’s Fair he and his wife, Nora, moved to Hawaii. Besides his monumental works he did there he did many small works, became popular in the local exhibits and active in the Honolulu of Artists' Association.
1942–1953 - Taught figure drawing and sculpture at the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, Extension Division.
1949 - Roy was chosen to be President of the Honolulu Artists’ Association.
1941–1946 and 1950–1971 – Civil Engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
- With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 Hawaiian residents had to have essential jobs. Roy worked his way up to becoming a Senior Civil Engineer with the Navy. He left in 1946, but returned in 1950 to Pearl Harbor as an Administrative Construction Engineer, and stayed with the Federal Government until he retired after a 30 year career.
Leaving Hawaii in 1956 his positions with the Government took him first to California, then Texas, and finally New Hampshire. His last work was with General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
in Boston as Construction Management Engineer with projects of million dollar post offices and federal buildings.
King worked on many commissions and exhibited his art until his death at home in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
Hampton Beach is a village district, census-designated place, and beach resort within the town of Hampton, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located on the Atlantic Ocean. Its population at the 2010 census was 2,275. Hampton Beach is located in Rockingham County, approximately south of Portsmouth...
August 29, 1986
King 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...
.
Exhibits
1929 - Knoedler Gallery, New York1931 - Municipal Exhibition of Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
1932 - Richmond Academy of Art, VA
1933 – and other dates - National Sculpture Society
1935 - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th and 20th century American paintings,...
1935 - American Architectural Society
1939 - and other dates - Honolulu Academy of Arts
Honolulu Academy of Arts
The Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...
1960 - "Venus", a standing nude carved in Austin stone, was shown in the Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
show and traveling exhibition throughout Texas for all of 1960.
1960 - A portrait head of Paul King, Roy had sculpted of his son in California, won the Esther Tyrrell Garth Memorial Award which placed the head in the permanent collection of the Beaumont Art Museum
Art Museum of Southeast Texas
The Art Museum of Southeast Texas is an art museum in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Established in 1950 as the Beaumont Art Museum, it acquired its current name in 1987 and exhibits 19th century to contemporary American art.-History:...
in Beaumont, Texas.
1962 – Corning Glass Company, NY exhibit
1964-1965 – Doll and Richards Gallery, Boston, MA
2009 and continuing - Smithsonian American Art Museum, Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture