View source for Adalbert J. Volck

{{short description|American cartoonist}}
{{Infobox artist
| bgcolour      =
| name          = Adalbert J. Volck
| image         = Dr_Adalbert_J_Volck_-_Baltimore_Sun_27_Mar_1912.png
| image_size     = 200px
| caption       =
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1828|04|14}}
| birth_place   = [[Augsburg]], [[Bavaria]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1912|03|25|1828|04|14}}
| death_place   = [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]]
| nationality   = [[United States of America|USA]]
| field         = [[Caricature]]s, [[Political cartoon]]s
| education     = [[Baltimore College of Dental Surgery]] ([[Dental degree|DDS]])
| spouse        = Letitia Roberta Alleyn<ref name=SunDeathNotice />
}}
'''Adalbert J. Volck''' (1828–1912) was a [[dentist]], [[political cartoonist]], and [[caricaturist]] born in [[Augsburg]] [[Bavaria]], who resided for most of his life in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]].<ref name="pubmed">{{cite journal|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11569060&dopt=Abstract|title=Adalbert J. Volck (1828-1912): Confederate dentist, artist and anti-Lincoln satirist.|year=1976|pmid=9060|access-date=2007-02-18|last1=Emmelkamp|first1=P. M.|last2=Straatman|first2=H.|journal=Behaviour Research and Therapy|volume=14|issue=3|pages=245–9|doi=10.1016/0005-7967(76)90017-6}}</ref> A dentist by profession, Volck is best known for his support of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] during the [[American Civil War]] through his political cartoons, which has led him to be described as "the Northern art world's most famous Confederate sympathizer."<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 3| title = 1st popular art exhibit to open July 2| work = The Gettysburg Times| location = Gettysburg, Pennsylvania| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1987-06-12| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69226750/1st-popular-art-exhibit-to-open-july-2/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm189.html|title=A Southern View (Memory): American Treasures of the Library of Congress|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|year=1864|access-date=2007-02-18| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070205162631/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm189.html| archive-date= 5 February 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> Volck's support for the Confederacy extended beyond his cartoons, including [[smuggling]] items for the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate army]], and acting as a personal courier [[President of the Confederate States of America|President]] [[Jefferson Davis]].<ref name="pubmed"/>
==Early life==
Volck was born April 14, 1828, in Augsburg, Bavaria, the third of thirteen children born to Andreas Volck, a vinegar maker.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Andreas Volck geb. 30 Nov 1800 Strakowitz gest. 26 Sep1888 Tharandt| work = Paul Wolfgang Merkelsche Familienstiftung| language=de | access-date = 2021-02-03| url = http://www.merkelstiftung.de/Familie/Familiendaten/getperson.php?personID=I21308&tree=PWMerkel}}</ref> He received his education in art in [[Nuremberg]] and [[Munich]].<ref name=MDHS>{{Cite web| title = Adalbert J. Volck Manuscript Collection, 1878 - 1948, MS 867| work = [[Maryland Historical Society]]| access-date = 2021-02-03| url = https://www.hitandstay.com/findingaid/adalbert-j-volck-manuscript-collection-1878-1948-ms-867}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Move to America==
Upon arriving in America, Volck initially joined a brother-in-law in [[St. Louis]], before following the [[California Gold Rush]] west in 1849.<ref name=SunDeathNotice />
Volck had previously studied dentistry in Germany, and resumed that profession in Baltimore.<ref name=VolckRecovering>{{Cite news| pages = 12| title = Dr. A. J. Volck Recovering| work = The Baltimore Sun| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1908-03-17| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69280504/dr-a-j-volck-recovering/}}</ref> While working under the supervision of [[Chapin A. Harris]], he received his dentistry degree from the [[Baltimore College of Dental Surgery]] in 1852 with a thesis on the subject of "nerves."<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 1| title = Local Matters - Annual Commencement off the College of Dental Surgery| work = The Baltimore Sun| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1852-03-19| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69225068/local-matters-annual-commencement-off/}}</ref> After graduating in Baltimore, he established a lifelong practice there. Volck was known for his work on [[Dental porcelain|porcelain restoration]] techniques.
Volck was a member of many of elite Baltimore's [[social club]]s, including the Athenaeum Club, and [[James Innes Randolph]]'s Whitebait Club.<ref name=Reminiscences /> He was a founding member of Baltimore's Wednesday Club, an arts and culture society influential in the city during the latter 19th century.<ref name=DigitalMaryland>{{Cite web| title = Adalbert Volck Etchings - Enoch Pratt Free Library| work = Digital Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| url = https://collections.digitalmaryland.org/digital/collection/scav}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| pages = 5| title = Editor "Answers"| work = The Evening Sun| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1912-09-27| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69261074/editor-answers/}}</ref> Volck was also a founding member of the [[Charcoal Club of Baltimore]], a prominent artists' group.<ref name=DerDeutsche1888 /><ref>{{cite journal|last=Kirwin|first=Liza|title=Back to Bohemia with the Charcoal Club of Baltimore|journal=Archives of American Art Journal|year=1985|volume=25|issue=1&2|pages=42|doi=10.1086/aaa.25.1_2.1557460|s2cid=192724496}}</ref>
==Artistic output==
[[Image:Adalbert J Volck Writing the Emancipation Proclamation political cartoon.jpg|thumb|right|''Caricature of [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] writing the [[Emancipation Proclamation]]'', a political cartoon by Volck.]]
Beyond sketches and cartoons, Volck's areas of artistic skill included landscape painting,<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 11| last = Dorsey| first = John| title = Goal dwarfs the art in Hagerstown show| work = The Baltimore Sun| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1984-04-23| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69226362/goal-dwarfs-the-art-in-hagerstown-show/}}</ref> [[silversmith|silver smithing]]<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 2| title = Heute vollendet Dr. Volck| work = [[Der Deutsche Correspondent]]| location = Baltimore, Maryland| language = de | access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1899-04-15| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69267128/heute-vollenbet-dr-volk/}}</ref> and sculpting.<ref name=DerDeutsche1888>{{Cite news| pages = 4| title = Der "Charcoal-Club," sein Wirfen und seine Kunstler| work = Der Deutsche Correspondent| language=de |location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1888-04-26| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69225513/der-charcoal-club-sein-wirfen-und/}}</ref> Volck's metalworks included copper and silver [[brooch]]es and [[shield]]s, including one fashioned after the [[nibelungenlied]].<ref name=VolckRecovering /> He also designed a giant brass [[growler (jug)|growler]] for the use of the Charcoal Club, which was cast by famous Baltimore silversmith [[W.F. Jacobi]] and remains in the club's possession for use in ceremonies.<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 50| last = Jones| first = Carleton| title = Art Club Still on Tap| work = Baltimore Sun Magazine| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1983-05-01| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69230485/art-club-still-on-tap/}}</ref>
==Death==
Volck injured both knees in an accident, following which he retired from his dentistry practice, focusing his final years on landscape paintings based on sketches he had made of the [[American West]].<ref name=VolckRecovering /><ref>{{Cite news| pages = 2| title = Dr. Adalbert J. Volck| work = Westliche Post Daily Country Edition| location = St. Louis, Missouri| access-date = 2021-02-03| language = de | date = 1912-04-04| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69277997/dr-adalbert-j-volck/}}</ref> He died at his home on Linden Avenue on March 26, 1912.<ref name=SunDeathNotice>{{Cite news| pages = 16| title = Death of Dr. A.J. Volck| work = The Baltimore Sun| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1912-03-27| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69260991/death-of-dr-aj-volck/}}</ref> After his death, an acquaintance wrote to ''The Baltimore Sun'' that Volck "deeply regretted" having caricatured Lincoln, "whom he had entirely misunderstood."<ref name=Reminiscences>{{Cite news| pages = 6| title = Reminiscences of Two Baltimoreans| work = The Evening Sun| location = Baltimore, Maryland| access-date = 2021-02-03| date = 1912-04-05| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69261034/reminiscences-of-two-baltimoreans/}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Adalbert John Volck}}
*[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/lprbscsm.scsm0776 Volck Caricatures] From the Collections at the [[Library of Congress]]
*[http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/cwetch2/index.html The Confederate War Etchings] at the New-York Historical Society
*{{Find a Grave | id=44117256}}
*[https://collections.digitalmaryland.org/digital/collection/scav Adalbert Volck Etchings from the Enoch Pratt Free Library] at [[Digital Maryland]]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volck, Adalbert J.}}
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1912 deaths]]
[[Category:Bavarian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century American artisans]]
[[Category:American caricaturists]]
[[Category:American cartoonists]]
[[Category:20th-century American dentists]]
[[Category:German caricaturists]]
[[Category:German dentists]]
[[Category:People of Maryland in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:19th-century German artisans]]
[[Category:19th-century American dentists]]