Mr. Lawrence M. Ludtke was a fellow in the National Sculpture Society, a member of the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts and a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of British Sculptors.
His portrait and figurative sculptures are represented in prominent institutions across the United States, such as the United Air Force Academy, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Rice University, Texas A & M University, CIA Headquarters at Langley, Virginia, The Portrait Gallery of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and The White House.
He fulfilled commissions of famous personalities, including Presidents Reagan, Kennedy & Johnson, Winston Churchill, General Robinson Risner, John Wayne, Martha Mitchell, General "Wild Bill" Donovan, Babe Didrickson Zaharias, Governor John Connally, & General Sam Houston.
The artist also created significant liturgical art, the most notable being a life-size pieta for St. Mary's Seminary in Houston, and a Christ and Child for a pioneer Methodist church in San Antonio. In 1991 Ludtke completed twenty-two portrait heads in bronze of the Founders of the new American Quarter Horse Foundation in Amarillo. He also created bronze panels depicting the seven Congressional Medal of Honor winners from Texas A & M University for their new Corps of Cadets Center, and a seven-foot bronze of General Earl Rudder, president of Texas A & M University and hero of the Cliffs of Normandy.
In 1994 Ludtke was commissioned by the state of Maryland to create a monumental bronze sculpture for the Gettysburg battlefield. The work depicts two wounded soldiers, helping each other off the field. Ludtke beautifully captures the agony and poignancy of the battle and the war. Shidoni Foundry cast the monument, the two figures being 9' tall. A smaller edition was also cast. An eight-foot figure of a young cowgirl was placed on the grounds of The Astrodome in Houston in 1994.
An avid student of Renaissance Art, Mr. Ludtke pursued an early career in professional baseball in the Dodger organization. He served in the Army during the Korean conflict and still finds time with his busy schedule to maintain a five handicap in golf.
Mr. Ludtke passed away in May 2007.
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