Augustus Lukeman

Henry Augustus Lukeman
Lukeman-sculpted bronze statue at the World War I monument in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Born	(1872-01-28)January 28, 1872 Richmond, Virginia
Died	April 3, 1935(1935-04-03) (aged 63) New York
Nationality	American
Known for	Historical monuments
Notable work	World War I monument in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, the Kit Carson Monument in Trinidad, Colorado and the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia
Awards	Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Dickinson College

Henry Augustus Lukeman (January 28, 1872 – April 3, 1935) was an American sculptor, specializing in historical monuments. Noted among his works are the World War I monument in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, the Kit Carson Monument in Trinidad, Colorado and the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia.

Henry Augustus Lukeman was born on January 28, 1872, in Richmond, Virginia, and was raised in New York City. He is "said to have begun lessons at the National Academy and the Cooper Union School at age eleven," though a National Academy of Design source notes that that school's "registration records do not bear… out" this historical supposition. It is also reported that he began sculpting at age 10 at a boys' club miniature workshop, working in clay and wood from ages 10 to 13.

At a young age he became a studio assistant of Launt Thompson, an Irish-American sculptor and National Academician, and, like Launt, pursued medically related studies (anatomy)—Lukeman at New York's Bellevue Hospital (for two year prior to 1890). He remained with Launt until age 16. There is report, potentially conflicting with other sources regarding his early training, that has him involved in an apprenticeship at the foundry of Jno. Williams, Inc. until he was 19. Likewise regarding a further report: that Lukeman studied terra cotta and architectural modeling for building and exterior decorations for several years, while in the evening studying life drawing (at the Cooper Union in New York). Lukeman is known to have attended classes at the National Academy for Design beginning in 1890, where records exist for his registration for the antique school (for two years), and to have followed this with study at Columbia University. Following that he went to Europe for 6 months and worked under Jean-Alexandre-Joseph Falguiere, at the Beaux Arts, in Paris.

When Lukeman returned to New York, he became an assistant to Daniel Chester French, a commitment that would last for a decade and a half, during which time he would also begin to execute his own commissions, eventually opening his own studio in New York. When construction of the World's Columbian Exposition began in 1893, Lukeman would superintend enlarging some important works for French, for instance, the Statue of the Republic.