12 Facts About Arthur Putnam

Arthur Putnam was an American sculptor and animalier who was recognized for his bronze sculptures of wild animals.

Arthur Putnam was a well-known figure, both statewide and nationally, during the time he lived in California.

Arthur Putnam exhibited at the Armory Show in 1913, and his works were exhibited in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Paris, and Rome.

Arthur Putnam was born on September 6,1873, in Waveland, Mississippi, whilst his family was traveling.

Arthur Putnam had an older brother, George, born in New Orleans, and a younger sister, Clara Elizabeth, born in Mississippi.

Oramel Arthur Putnam was a railroad worker, and the family frequently relocated during the sculptor's early years.

Arthur Putnam experienced a serious accident as a child, falling forty feet out of a tree and receiving a head injury.

In 1899 Arthur Putnam married his first wife, Grace Choate Storey, in Sacramento, California, and moved first to Berkeley, California, and then in 1900 to San Francisco.

In San Francisco, Arthur Putnam was friends with artist and stained glass designer Bruce Porter and the tonalist painter Gottardo Piazzoni ; these friendships would help sustain the sculptor in the future.

Arthur Putnam shared a studio with sculptor Earl Cummings, and Piazzoni at 628 Montgomery Street.

Arthur Putnam divorced his wife and in 1917 married Marion Pearson, a woman half his age.

The mermaid was not representative of the sculptor's earlier work; Arthur Putnam had been significantly hampered by a stroke caused by the 1911 surgery.