Adolph Wolter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adolph Gustav Wolter von Ruemelin (September 7, 1903–October 15, 1980) , transplanted sculptor in Hoosierland, was born on September 7, 1903 in Reutlingen (Baden-Württemberg), Germany, in the southern region of that country. The second of three sons, he was educated in the local schools and confirmed in the town's Roman Catholic Church where his father Karl Wolter was chief sculptor. He graduated from the local school, and as a teenager attended the community's technical school (a Gewerbeschule) serving a three-year sculpturing apprenticeship with his father where he studied architecture, stone and metal. In due course he matriculated to the Academy of Fine Arts (now called Die Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste) in Stuttgart where students enjoyed a reputation for their self-motivation and initiative.

Four Freedoms Monument

In the Hoosier capital during the 1930s the hardworking sculptor studied at the John Herron Art Institute, where sculptor David K. Rubins was his primary teacher. Wolter himself later became an art teacher at the Indianapolis Art League, taught classes in his studios, and served as professor of Restorative Arts at the Indiana College of Mortuary Science for several years.

In central Indiana Wolter carried a heavy load of professional responsibilities in the class room, lecture-demonstrations of his craft before varied audiences both within and outside the city, TV appearances, exhibitions, commissioned works, membership and activities with several art groups, including the Indianapolis Art League. He also wrote and illustrated articles for Design Magazine.

The 1940s and '50s were both the busiest and most productive of Wolter's life. He found time to serve as an art consultant for several companies in New York City, Vermont, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. These services involved designing trade marks, medallions, busts, reliefs, and advertising. In June 1946 Wolter married Evelyn C. Martz and started a family. But his life was wrapped up in his work, so much so that one suspects that his divorce from Evelyn in the early 1960s may have been at least in part due to his dedication to his art. They reunited and remarried after a separation of two years in November of 1963, so a local newspaper reported.

His studios were located variously at 1031 Carrollton Ave. (1959), 616 E. 58th St. (1960), in the Liberty Building at 107 S. Capitol Ave. (1964), 5677 N. Delaware St. (at the time of his death), and perhaps elsewhere.

After his years of working and teaching in Indianapolis he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1969 for a brief time. He returned to Hoosierland and finished out his professional career.

In September 1975 he journeyed back to Reutlingen there to present an honorary Indianapolis key to the Bürgermeister (mayor) as a token of friendship between the two cities. On September 26, 1975 the local newspaper, the Reutlingen General-Anzeiger, expressed the city's appreciation to the citizens of Indianapolis for their friendship (die Herzen) to the German city.

Life came to a close for Adolph Gustav Wolter on October 15, 1980, when he died in Indianapolis' Methodist Hospital, survived by his wife Evelyn and two sons. Step-grandchildren include Brian Grossman who resides in Washington D.C., Anne (Grossman) Tillie and Keith Grossman, who reside in Indiana, and Elizabeth Wolter, who resides in Connecticut. A memorial service in Second Presbyterian Church followed two days later.

William Shakespeare's Marc Antony thought that the good which one does is buried with the individual. Not so with Adolph Wolter. Historians, students and art aficionados remember his lecture-demonstrations and exhibitions, his capturing several prizes, including the Forty-fifth Annual Exhibit of the Indiana Artists Club (1977) for his "Violinist," and his 24-foot tall "Four Freedoms" in the White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan. Moreover, extant literature notes that he has left for posterity even more creations. Among these works: the Louis Chevrolet masterpiece designed by Fred Wellman and sculpted by Wolter at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, commemorating the contributions of the auto designer and racer; Wolter's contributions to Second Presbyterian Church and to Broadway United Methodist Church; a Presidential Chain of Office presented to Butler University's President; the life-size bust of Crispus Attucks; two figures ("Spiritual Victory" and "Resurrection") on both sides of the door of the Mt. Vernon Mausoleum and the "Hand of God" above them at Washington Park East Cemetery (Indianapolis); and finally, his sculpted Greek mythological gods Pan and Syrinx to replace the stolen originals in University Park in Indianapolis. Wolter's artistic legacy continues to live on after him.

Sources[]

Materials in the collection

"Adolph Wolter," Clipping Files, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN

Mr. Dale Caldwell, Staff member, Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, IN

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, May 17, 1970

Indianapolis News, October 16 & 22, 1980

Indianapolis Star, October 16, 1980

Indianapolis Times, June 27, 1959 & November 12, 1963

Selected works[]

Notes[]

References[]

  • A Glimpse of White Chapel: Where Memory Lives in Beauty, White Chapel Memorial Cemetery, Troy, MI, n.d.
  • Goode, James M. (1974). The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D.C. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  • Greiff, Glory-June (2005). Remembrance, Faith & Fancy: Outdoor Public Sculpture in Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87195-180-0.
  • Hussey, Christopher (1930). Tait McKenzie: A Sculptor of Youth. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippencott Company. p. 55.
  • Kvaran and Lockley, Guide to the Architectural Sculpture of America, https://web.archive.org/web/20110707160333/http://www.archsculptbooks.com/
Retrieved from ""