William Rudolf O’Donovan

William Rudolf O’Donovan had no technical art training, apart from a brief apprenticeship with a marble cutter in Greene County, Pennsylvania. After serving in the Confederate army during the Civil War, he established a studio in New York and began work as a professional sculptor. He created many portraits and memorials, and was a founder of the Tile Club, a group of artists who met regularly to create handmade ceramic tiles and to offer one another support, inspiration, and camaraderie.