Edward Kemeys was America's first "animalier" or specialist in animal sculpture and is noted for being the sculptor of the lions, which guard the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago. Kemey's strength lay in conveying the character of each species, as well as a sense of natural movement.

He was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1843, but spent his youth in New York City. He received no early formal training in art and was for the most part a self-taught artist. His first job was an iron worker until the outbreak of the Civil War in which he served in the Union Army attaining the rank of Captain of Artillery. After the war he traveled to Illinois and became a farmer, a venture that failed after a few years.

He first became inte...