De Lue, Donald, 1897-1988

Sculptor; Boston, Mass.

From the description of Drawings by Donald De Lue, [undated] and 1925-1983. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86118668

Donald De Lue (1897-1988) was an American sculptor and medallist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and spent several years in Paris. He is perhaps best known for his 45-foot high sculpture of the "Rocket Thrower," commissioned for and exhibited at the New York World's Fair in the Plaza of the Astronauts. This figure is familiar not only to those who have visited the Fair but to people all over the world, as it was reproduced in the official World's Fair postage stamp.

De Lue lived in Leonardo, New Jersey for much of his career but maintained a studio in New York City. He taught at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York City during the early 1940s. He also did work for the Boy Scouts of America, Carnegie Technical Institute, the United States Naval Academy, and West Point Academy, and served as Advance Editor for American Artist Magazine and as Chairman of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University.

Over his career he received numerous recognitions, including a Guggenheim Fellowship from the National Institute of Arts and Letters and several gold medals, one from the Architectural League and one from the National Sculpture Association. In 1960 he won two Henry Hering Awards (given by the National Sculpture Society) for his Omaha Beach Memorial in Normandy, France and for the Stations of the Cross at the Loyola Jesuit Seminary in Shrub Oak, New York. In 1967, De Lue won the American Numismatic Society's Saltus Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Art of the Medal.

From the guide to the Donald De Lue Papers, 1941-1965, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)