Launt Thompson (1833-1894)
Launt Thompson was born in Abbeyleix, Ireland. His mother and he came to Albany, NY in 1847 during the potato famine after his father died. They had only a few dollars to their name and as a 14-year-old he started working for a local surgeon and professor at Albany College, James Armsby. Young Launt was adept and interested in drawing human anatomy and professor Arsmby encourage him to draw his cadavers and surgical procedures at the office. Armsby was very impressed with Launt’s talent and brought him to the attention of a well-known sculptor in Albany, Erasmus Dow Palmer. Launt studied with Palmer for about a decade and in 1848 he moved to New York City to be in the center of the art world in America. He soon began getting commissions for sculptures from many important people and institutions as well as becoming a very sought after guest at parties and events sponsored by the New York rich and famous. He was close friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Jacob Astor, Frederick Church, Robert browning, Gustave Dore, Samuel Morse, Edwin Booth, William Cullen Bryant, and many other artists, writers, industrialists, and politicians. He created sculptures of Napoleon, Generals John Sedgwick, Winfield Scott, and Ambrose Burnside, as well as Grizzly Adams and many other military and private commissions. Most of these are on public display in parks and museums across the nation. During these years he not only became increasingly popular as an artist but also as a personality in and around New York City. He eventually became an alcoholic and suffered from what we now know as Bipolar Disorder. He was eventually arrested after violent altercations and ended up in the Middletown Homeopathic Hospital in 1894. These events were published in nearly every major newspaper in America as well as in Italy where he had lived with his wife for a few years. He remained a resident at the homeopathic institute until his death in 1894. He was able to do some sculpting while living at the hospital and one of his last sculptures was a base relief of the supervisor’s son, Little Talcott.
Launt Thompson was born in Abbeyleix, Ireland. His mother and he came to Albany, NY in 1847 during the potato famine after his father died. They had only a few dollars to their name and as a 14-year-old he started working for a local surgeon and professor at Albany College, James Armsby. Young Launt was adept and interested in drawing human anatomy and professor Arsmby encourage him to draw his cadavers and surgical procedures at the office. Armsby was very impressed with Launt’s talent and brought him to the attention of a well-known sculptor in Albany, Erasmus Dow Palmer. Launt studied with Palmer for about a decade and in 1848 he moved to New York City to be in the center of the art world in America. He soon began getting commissions for sculptures from many important people and institutions as well as becoming a very sought after guest at parties and events sponsored by the New York rich and famous. He was close friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Jacob Astor, Frederick Church, Robert browning, Gustave Dore, Samuel Morse, Edwin Booth, William Cullen Bryant, and many other artists, writers, industrialists, and politicians. He created sculptures of Napoleon, Generals John Sedgwick, Winfield Scott, and Ambrose Burnside, as well as Grizzly Adams and many other military and private commissions. Most of these are on public display in parks and museums across the nation. During these years he not only became increasingly popular as an artist but also as a personality in and around New York City. He eventually became an alcoholic and suffered from what we now know as Bipolar Disorder. He was eventually arrested after violent altercations and ended up in the Middletown Homeopathic Hospital in 1894. These events were published in nearly every major newspaper in America as well as in Italy where he had lived with his wife for a few years. He remained a resident at the homeopathic institute until his death in 1894. He was able to do some sculpting while living at the hospital and one of his last sculptures was a base relief of the supervisor’s son, Little Talcott.