Milton Horn (1906 – March 29, 1995) is a Russian American sculptor and artist known for work that, according to a 1957 citation of honor from the American Institute of Architects, demonstrated \"the truth that architecture and sculpture are not two separate arts but, in the hands of sympathetic collaborators, one and the same\".

Milestones

Horn was born near Kiev, Russia, September 1, 1906. In 1913, he immigrated to United States with his parents, Pinchos and Bessie. In 1917 Horn became an American citizen. He began drawing and painting in 1918. From 1921-23, Horn studied with sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson and at the Copley Society, Boston. From 1923-27, he studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. He was awarded a Tiffany Foundation Fellowship in 1925; his study of the Foundation's collection of Chinese paintings and Japanese prints strongly influenced the style of his drawings.

Horn was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949.

1927-28 Received his earliest commission: the sculptured ceiling for Lentheric Perfume Salon in the Hotel Savoy Plaza in New York, demolished in 1940. In 1928, he married Estelle Oxenhorn, a dancer and, later, an accomplished photographer and documentarian of his work.

1931 Honored by the New England Society of Contemporary Art in Boston by a one-man exhibition.

1932-34 Cataloged Egyptian antiquities and Coptic textiles at the Brooklyn Museum under Jean Capart.

1935 Participated in the Federal Government's Work Projects Administration.

1936 Became a founding member of the Sculptor's Guild.

1938 Completed 'Spirit of the Mail' for the United States Post Office, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

1939 His terracotta relief entitled \"Summer\" wins prize at the New York World's Fair. In 1939, Horn finished his sculpture, 'Apprenticeship of Colonel Whitin' for the United States Post Office, Whitinsville, Massachusetts.

1939-1949 Served as the Carnegie Professor of Art, and Artist-in-Residence at Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan

1941 \"Paul Bunyan Straightening out the Round River\" for United States Post Office, Iron River, Michigan

1943-44 Collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright on a wood relief mural for the Wall residence in Plymouth, Michigan.

1947 Completed 'Job', a figure symbolizing the human suffering endured, without loss of faith, by the victims of World War II. In 1949 Horn moved to Chicago.

1950 Received his first commission for a synagogue, 'Not by Might, Nor by Power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts' for the facade of West Suburban Temple Har Zion in River Forest, Illinois. The stone relief depicts the divine presence, the many-eyed Shekhinah, in human form.

1951 'Job' included in the first, and last, juried national show of American sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1953-4 Sculpted Torah ark doors for South Shore Temple in Chicago. The wooden panels are life-size depictions of two cherubim. Completed the three bronzes \"The Teacher, the Mother, the Father\" for the PTA headquarters in Chicago

1953-5 Received his first commission from City of Chicago, \"Chicago Rising from the Lake\" for the Department of Public Works. Installed high on the facade of a parking garage, the piece is now located at ground level on the Columbus Ave. bridge and the Chicago River Walk.

1954-56 Worked on \"History of Medicine\" , four monumental relief pylons, at the West Virginia University Medical Center in Morgantown, West Virginia.

1957 Awarded Citation of Honor by the American Institute of Architects Centennial Conference, Washington, DC.

1957 \"Ark-Reredos\" in Silling Chapel at the West Virginia University Medical Center(Reredos: wall behind the altar, serving also as the Torah ark. Representatives of the participating faiths agreed on the shared smbolism and architecture of the Ark-Reredos.

1958 Completed bronze relief (depicting athletic activity) for a facade of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

1963-65 Worked on the monumental \"Hymn to Water\" for the Central Water Filtration Plant of the City of Chicago. In this, the largest of his works, the artist used poetic symbols to celebrate water as the sustaining force of life.

1972 Honored by the National Sculpture Society.

1975 Death of Estelle Horn.

1976 Awarded Honorary degree, Doctor of Fine Arts, by Olivet College, Michigan. Elected Academician by the National Academy of Design.

1975 - 1979 Worked on \"God and Israel\", dedicated in homage to his late wife

1979 - 1994 Completed a large bronze plaque (25\" x 14\"), commissioned by Dr. Messaros for the Medical Center at West Virginia University (WVU), which is dedicated to his late wife. Restored the hand carved and cast plaster maquette panels of the history of medicine for installation at West Virginia University. Created and cast three bronze medallions: a portrait of Estelle, a dancer, and a child's portrait. Reworked a number of plasticine sculptures (a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, \"Dancer #3\" and \"Noah's Ark\"), made at various times in his career, with the intent of casting them in bronze. Created the Milton Horn Fine Art Trust and the Milton and Estelle Horn Fine Art Study Collection at WVU.

1989 Retrospective exhibit at the Spertus Museum of Judaica. Moved temporarily to Hampstead in London where he created a life size bronze portrait.

1992 Returned to Chicago to work on a piece he called \"Rhubarb\", a large plant form. Due to his illness the piece was not completed. Worked also at that time to create a large crucifixion relief panel in clay.