Anthony Lauck: the father of art at Notre Dame

1909 – 2001 · art faculty 1950 – 1973 · department chairman 1960 – 1967

The Rev. Anthony J. Lauck, C.S.C. (1909–2001): the priest-sculptor who built Notre Dame's modern art life and brought Meštrović to it. Born in Indianapolis in 1909, he took a diploma from the John Herron Art School there, then studied sculpture at the Corcoran School of Art, Columbia University, the Cranbrook Academy, Alfred University and Syracuse University — where Meštrović was among his teachers — and made a year-long study tour of European museums. He entered the Congregation of Holy Cross as a postulant in 1937 and was ordained on June 24, 1946. He joined Notre Dame's art faculty in 1950, when, in the university magazine's words, the practice and exhibition of art had not been given much attention at Notre Dame. He changed that slowly: as head of the art department from 1960 to 1967, and as the first professional director of the university's art gallery from 1962 until his retirement — 1974 by the university magazine's account; the finding aid for his papers gives 1977. One of his last projects was to shepherd the gallery into accreditation by the American Association of Museums, achieved in 1974. His first breakthrough had come in 1955, when he helped convince Meštrović, his old teacher, to relocate to Notre Dame. Some at the university consider him the father of art at Notre Dame; in 2007 his name was added to the Main Building's Wall of Honor.

The works: Lauck's sculpture stands at the campus's thresholds. His Our Lady of the University welcomes visitors at the Main Circle; a massive replica of his Visitation stands on the south side of the Eck Visitors' Center; his statue of Blessed André Bessette, designed in 1985, stands in the Brother André Chapel of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart; he designed the panoramic stained glass that forms the southern exposure of the chapel and library at Moreau Seminary, where he lived for almost fifty years; and the university's presidential ceremonial mace is his work. He died at Holy Cross House on April 12, 2001, aged ninety-two.

Sources:

1. Notre Dame Magazine, "Deaths in the Family" (magazine.nd.edu) — the April 2001 death at ninety-two, the Indianapolis birth and Herron diploma, the 1937 entry and 1946 ordination, the 1950 faculty appointment, the chairmanship of 1960–67, the gallery directorship of 1962 to his 1974 retirement, the 1955 Meštrović recruitment, and the works list.
2. Notre Dame News, "Two names added to Main Building's Wall of Honor" (2007) and "Father Lauck dies" (2001) — the April 12, 2001 death, the Syracuse study under Meštrović, the Moreau Seminary glass, and the Eck Visitors' Center Visitation.
3. University of Notre Dame Archives, Anthony Lauck Papers (ArchivesSpace) — the studies at Cranbrook, Columbia, the Corcoran and Syracuse, the gallery directorship given as 1962–1977, and the presidential mace among his works.
4. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, "How We Started" — Lauck's selection as gallery director in 1962, Dean Porter's succession on his 1974 retirement, and the 1974 accreditation.