Rogers, John, 1800-1884

John Rogers was a prominent American sculptor of the second half of the nineteenth century. The popularity of his work was unprecedented among American sculptors; between 1860 and 1893 he sold approximately eighty-thousand works. His success has been credited to his keen marketing as well as to his passion for addressing themes close to the heart of middle class Americans. Rogers eschewed classical sculpture styles and instead produced extremely detailed, narrative sculpture groups that focused on themes of everyday American life, popular literature, and the Civil War. Cast in plaster in order to be affordable, the Rogers Groups were renowned for their wit, humor, and sentimentality.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1829, Rogers counted among his ancestors several generations of New England clergymen and merchants. Rogers's immediate family, however, was not particularly wealthy, and discouraged their son's early artistic efforts on the grounds that the life of an artist would not provide a sufficient salary. Instead, Rogers began working as a machinist and draftsman. He lived in various regions of the country in the course of his career, finally rising to the rank of master mechanic for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail Road in Hannibal, Missouri in 1856. He lost this job in the money panic of 1857. Having time on his hands, Rogers decided to give in to his artistic aspirations and traveled Europe in 1858 to study with the masters. His experiences in Paris and Rome were discouraging. He disliked the predominant classical styles that were taught and discovered that even the finest American artists found it difficult to make a living from their work. After only a year abroad, he returned to Chicago to become a draftsman again, leaving behind his hopes of becoming an artist.

...