Henry Kreis

Born in Essen, Germany, Henry Kreis trained as a stonemason’s apprentice from the ages of fourteen to eighteen. After serving in the German army during World War I, he continued his studies at the School of Applied Arts in Munich under Bavarian sculptor Joseph Wakerle. Kreis immigrated to New York City in 1923 and worked as a master stone cutter while studying at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design from 1924 to 1928. The figures he designed in 1928 for the International Magazine Building in New York, brought him to the attention of Paul Manship and Carl Paul Jennewein. For the next six years, he served as an assistant to both sculptors. Kreis had a long and successful career as a sculptor and medalist. In 1929, he was elected to the National Sculpture Society and became a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. In 1933, he was commissioned to carve twelve plaster reliefs depicting different regions of the United States for the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.