Squirrel Boy

The tale of sculptor Leonard Crunelle rings a rags-to-riches tune. Born in Pas de Calais, France, he endured a harsh life, forced to work in the French coal mines alongside his father. Sculpting was a passion even in his childhood, when he would turn adversity into creativity by saving clay from the coal mines to later construct model figures at home. His family immigrated to the United States in 1882 and later settled in Decatur, Illinois, where life again was difficult. But Crunelle’s artistic talent caught the eye of famed sculptor Lorado Taft, who employed him as an apprentice. Through this association, his life changed irrevocably.

He assisted Taft on work at the 1893 Columbian Exposition and earned enough money to attend classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Shortly thereafter he become an artist in his own right, and created a number of critically acclaimed sculptures. He won the competition for the Victory Monument in Bronzeville (35th Street and King Drive), erected in 1927. This work honors the achievements of the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France during World War I. This was the first state-sponsored memorial to African-American veterans of World War I. It is somewhat bittersweet to note that the town where was born in France was destroyed in World War I. Another landmark by Crunelle is his participation in Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield, Illinois for which he fashioned the head of our sixteenth President.

Children were his leitmotif, and he often used his own as models (likely in the instance of Squirrel Boy). His offspring not only served as models; just as Crunelle helped his father in the coal mines, his children also assisted him in his studio. In Squirrel Boy, he masterfully conveys the movement and spirit of a male youth and his animal companion. He selected the Greek prototype of a herm for his overall structure, the herm comprising a human head or torso united to a tall rectangular plinth or column. He modernized his herm, in that the subject was no longer a Greek God, rather a playful child tempting his rambunctious squirrel companion with nuts.

Thus by sheer force of his refined skills and artistic drive, Leonard Crunelle overcame hardship and obstacles to achieve success and fame that endures today.