Robert Graham, Sculptor
Robert Graham at the 2001 FDR Memorial Wheelchair Statue Dedication
Robert Graham (1938-2008) was a Mexican-born American sculptor who was best known for his bronze works that brought major public figures and ideas into urban spaces throughout the United States. Born in Mexico City, Mexico, he moved with his family to California in 1948, and studied at San José State University and the San Francisco Art Institute after serving in the U.S. Air Force. He developed a career around the expressive human form and public memorials.
Graham was chosen by landscape architect Lawrence (Larry) Halprin to create several sculptures for the FDR Memorial. Graham created the First Inaugural bas-relief in Room One, based off of film footage of Roosevelt’s first inauguration in 1933. He also designed five bronze relief panels and columns to represent New Deal social programs in Room Two, which include scenes of Americans affected by federal programs and identifying initials for programs written in both letters and Braille.
Graham’s additional contribution to the FDR Memorial came later. Responding to disability advocates’ concerns that the original memorial lacked a clear portrayal of Roosevelt’s wheelchair usage, Graham sculpted the life-size statue of FDR seated in a wheelchair for the Prologue Room. Dedicated in January 2001, the statue made Roosevelt’s disability visible in the national public memory, while also showing him as an active public figure.
Robert Graham received several notable honors during his career, which include the ACLU Freedom of Speech Award and the California Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in 1993. He was elected an associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1983 and became a full Academician in 1994. In 2003, he received the Commander of Merit award from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, followed by the Hope of Los Angeles Award during the City of Los Angeles’s Latino Heritage Month in 2005. Graham was also inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2008. Although illness prevented him from attending the ceremony, his son accepted the honor on his behalf.
Graham’s son, Steven, worked with him in his studio and helped with the installation of the FDR wheelchair statue and Eleanor Roosevelt text panel. Steven was an inaugural member of the FDR Memorial Foundation's Advisory Board.
Graham's son, Steven, at the Bronze Relief panels at the FDR Memorial
Other notable works of Robert Graham include:
- Olympic Gateway (1984), Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — Graham’s first major civic commission, a 25-foot gateway incorporating monumental athletic torsos for the 1984 Olympic Games.
- Joe Louis Memorial (1986), Detroit — a monumental suspended bronze fist and forearm within a pyramidal frame, honoring the boxer and becoming an enduring Detroit landmark.
- Duke Ellington Monument (1997), New York, New York — a 30-foot memorial incorporating Ellington at the piano and figures representing muses.
- Charlie “Bird” Parker Memorial (1999), Kansas City — a monument honoring the influential jazz saxophonist, with “Bird Lives” inscribed below the sculpture.
- The Great Bronze Doors and a statue of Mary (2002), Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles — among Graham’s final major monumental projects.