We can thank typhoid fever, a meddling wife and some light animal abuse for Henry Shrady, who sculpted one of our most important national monuments.  

He started his career as a businessman and lawyer, but a nasty bout of typhoid forced him to quit.  In his three-year convalescence he discovered his true calling: the arts!

His wife, Harrie E. Moore, helped him come to this realization. Shrady perfected his skills by doing watercolors of household pets, and Harrie decided they were good enough to submit to the National Academy of Design...behind her husband’s back. He was astonished when his work was not only accepted, but sold!

Next, he threw himself into animal sculpture.  He studied animals at the Bronx zoo, but also used a more “hands on” approach by dissecting horses.  To capture the effect of a horse in action, he sprayed his own horse with a hose before riding it so that he could see the muscles better. Let’s just hope he didn’t try that in winter.

Shrady’s questionable methods paid off when he got his first big commission for a sculpture of George Washington on horseback. His career coup was winning a competition to sculpt the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial for the National Mall when he was just 29.  This seemed like fate since Shrady’s father (a doctor) had treated Grant for cancer during Shrady’s childhood.  

He worked on the gargantuan project for 20 years, but died just two weeks before the dedication ceremony...womp womp. Grieve not. With his artist’s instinct and a touch of healthy vanity, Shrady found a way to live forever in his masterpiece.  He modeled the face of a fallen cavalryman after himself.  Photobombing is for amateurs...it takes true dedication (and a long-ass time) to sculpturebomb.