2 boxes

Agency History/Biographical note:
Henry Rox was born in Berlin, Germany on March 18, 1899. He studied art and art history at Oberammergau, the University of Berlin, and Kunstgewerbeschule at Berlin-Charlottenburg. He then pursued intensive sculpture training at the Julian and Colarossi Academies in Paris. Rox gained recognition as a prolific sculptor and his work was displayed in many cities in Europe. He also began experimenting with photosculpture--photographing sculptures of characters designed from fruits and vegetables. He and his wife Lotte left Germany for London in 1933, then settled in the United States in 1938. In 1939 Rox was hired as a lecturer in sculpture at Mount Holyoke College. He was promoted to Assistant Professor of Art in 1948, Professor of Art in 1954, and became Mary Lyon Professor of Art in 1963. During his time at Mount Holyoke, Rox also taught at Holyoke Junior College, Hartford College, and the School of Worcester Art Museum. He became Professor Emeritus upon retirement from Mount Holyoke in 1964. His work in fruit and vegetable photosculpture won repute in magazines, postcards, a Hollywood film, and as illustrations in several children's books. His more traditional sculptures, including "Arise!," "Meditation," "Young Monk," and "Ritual," won international acclaim. Rox died at sixty-eight at home in South Hadley on July 14, 1967.

Scope and Content:
The Henry Rox Papers consist of books and writings, exhibit catalogues, publications illustrated with Rox's artwork, biographical information, and photographs. The majority of the material in this collection relates to Rox's professional work as a sculptor and professor of art. The documentation highlights Rox's earlier work in fruit and vegetable photosculpture, which was used in magazines, children's books, and in the film "Strike Up the Band" (1939), which starred Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The collection includes three books illustrated by Rox: "Tommy Apple" (1935), "Tommy Apple and Peggy Pear" (1936), and "Banana Circus" (1940), which he also wrote. One example of scholarly writing by Rox, "On Dürer's 'Knight, Death, and Devil'" (1948) is included in the collection along with an unpublished transcription of one of Rox's lectures on light in art (1963). The collection also documents Rox's more traditional work with wood, metals, ceramic, and terracotta. Recognition for Rox's work, which includes awards from the National Sculpture Society, the Springfield Art League, and a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creativity in Sculpture is thoroughly documented in this collection. The papers also contain records of Rox's exhibits from 1945-1966 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, the Museo internazionale della ceramiche in Faenza, Italy, the De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco, California, and others. A number of the catalogues for these exhibits, along with numerous pamphlets and other publications using photographs of Rox's sculptures, are contained in the collection. Newspaper articles also gave significant attention to his achievements as a professor at Mount Holyoke College including promotions and appointments at other institutions. The collection contains photographs of Rox's work, including images of his fruit and vegetable photosculpture and his more traditional work with wood, metals, terracotta, plaster, and ceramic.

Cite as: Henry Rox Papers. Mount Holyoke College, Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted.

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