New York City sculptor Charles Keck (1875-1951) was known for his statuary and relief sculpture, including military and presidential statues, busts, and memorials, medal relief sculpture, and memorial tablets.
Keck was born in New York City, and began his art training at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League of New York. He also worked in the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens from 1893-1898. In 1899 he won the Prix de Rome and studied sculpture at the American Academy in Rome from 1901-1904. On returning to the United States in 1905, he opened a studio in New York City, from which he worked for the remainder of his life.
Keck's most famous works include a figure of Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee, Alabama (1922), a seated figure of Abraham Lincoln at Wabash, Indiana (1926), a statue of World War II chaplain, Father Francis D. Duffy in Times Square, New York (1937), and equestrian statues to Andrew Jackson in Kansas City (1934) and Independence (1949), Missouri. His relief work included designs of state medals, seals, and coins, memorial tablets such as his USS "Maine" tablet, and friezes for the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Bronx Building in New York.
Keck received many awards during his career, including the Annual Gold medal for Sculpture of the Architectural League of New York (1926), and was a member of professional art organizations including the National Academy of Design, the National Sculpture Society, the American Federation of Arts, and others.