Albert Laessle

Albert Laessle (March 28, 1877 – September 4, 1954) was an American sculptor and educator. He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for more than twenty years and is best remembered as an animalier. He won the 1918 Widener Gold Medal.

Life, education and career Albert Laessle was born on March 28, 1877, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents immigrated to the United States from Württemberg, Germany. Laessle had an older brother, Henry who was supportive of his artistic ambitions, whereas his parents were not.

Laessle studied art at several institutions: Spring Garden Institute in 1894; Drexel Institute (now Drexel University) 1894–1895, where he studied under Thomas Eakins; and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied under Thomas Anshutz and Charles Grafly. He spent three years, from 1904 to 1907 in Paris working with Michel Beguine.

In 1907, he returned to Philadelphia and worked in Grafly's studio.

In 1910, he won a medal at the Buenos Aires International Exposition and in 1915, he won a gold medal at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. In 1916, he won first place in the Americanization Through Art exhibition in Philadelphia.

Works Laessle's sculptures can be found at the Carnegie Institute, the Peabody Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. At the Philadelphia Zoo is his group of bronze Penguins (1917), which was purchased by the Fairmount Park Art Association and installed at the entrance to the zoo's Bird House. Laessle's studio was close to the Philadelphia Zoo, which allowed him easy access to animal models.

From 1919 until 1939, Laessle was an instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy. He retired due to a heart condition.