Sculptor Lawrence Noble Announces Donation of his Papers
Sculptor Lawrence Noble has announced plans to donate his papers to the Briscoe Center for American History. The Noble Studio Archives document Noble’s four-decade career as an award-winning sculptor and illustrator. His work includes the California Firefighters’ Memorial in Sacramento. Notable clients include Time magazine, film director Peter Jackson, and the production company Lucasfilm.
“The Noble Studio Archives is a significant addition to the center’s growing holdings related to historic commemoration and symbolism. Sculpture and design archives represent something of an uncharted territory for historians— but they can give us unique insights into American values at the national and local level,” said Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. “I’m grateful to Lawrence for choosing the center, and I’m confident his papers will be actively used by scholars and students, as well as by the center in its exhibits and digital projects.”
Lawrence Noble was born in Tampa, Florida, in 1948. Raised and educated in Houston, he now resides in Oregon having spent most of his career in Southern California. In 1972, he illustrated posters for the George McGovern presidential campaign. Noble Studio was founded in 1973. His work in film art has seen him design for many motion picture advertising campaigns including Flash Gordon, The Empire StrikesBack and The Rock. His first bronze sculpture, a life-size equestrian monument to Civil War general Philip H. Sheridan, was unveiled in Chicago in June 1990. In 1997, he was commissioned to design and sculpt the San Bernardino County Peace Officers’ Memorial. The California Firefighters’ Memorial was unveiled in 2002, and Noble’s Hampton, Virginia, 400th Anniversary Monument was unveiled in 2011. He was the recipient of the Henry Hering Memorial Medal in 2014 for his body of work commissioned by Lucasfilm. Recently, the Portrait Society of America included Noble’s Portrait of Lauren Chai in its new exhibition, Select 50.
“My whole career has been about honoring America’s icons,” said Noble. “Sculpture—who we choose to honor—is a record of who we are and a reflection of who we were. Not every statue in the park is a General Sherman or a Robert E. Lee, but they all mean something. I’m pleased to leave my archives at the center. Each of us artists leave our own unique footprint. I’m glad there’s a place where someone in the future can study my footprints.”
The archive will include sketches, plaster models, research files, correspondence, concept drawings, client descriptions, and progress reports related to Noble Studio’s various projects. The center collections related to historical symbolism include the Whitney Smith Flag Research Center Collection, the StudioEIS Archive, Coppini-Tauch Papers, and the Elisabet Ney Papers.
