David K. Rubins

David Kresz Rubins (1902–1985) was an American sculptor and professor. He taught at Herron School of Art in Indianapolis and his various works adorn the Indiana State House, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. As a young man, he was apprenticed to James Earle Fraser before moving on to study at Dartmouth College and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York. He then traveled to Europe to study in Paris, where he was awarded the Paris Prize in Sculpture. He was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome from 1928 to 1931. Rubins had two sons, James A. Rubins and Harry Rubins. and he was director of the sculpture program for 45 years. In 1943 he served on a jury judging an Indiana state competition wherein high school students designed posters to aid in the control of cancer During his time as an academic in 1953, he authored a textbook, The Human Figure: An Anatomy for Artists, which became a standard text for art students.

Published works 1953 – The Human Figure: An Anatomy for Artists. In 1962, he created the statue of Young Abe Lincoln which adorns the lawns at the Indiana State House. In 1964, he created the bust of former governor Henry F. Schricker which resides in an alcove inside the Indiana State House. During the 1960s he also created the sculpture Stumbling Man for a state-sponsored competition to honor the memory of Indiana coal miners. In 1979 it came to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and it was formally dedicated there in 1981.

Other examples of Rubins' sculpture include the cherub that would adorn the downtown Indianapolis L. S. Ayres building during the Christmas season (now located in the Indiana State Museum a bronze figure of a nude woman given to the IMA, a bust of Dean John Van Nuys at the IU School of Medicine, over the driveway entrances of the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

Awards In 1924, Rubins was awarded the Paris Prize in Sculpture. In 1928, In 1973, the alumni of Herron School of Art honored him with "David K. Rubins Day," including a dinner party and the announcement of two scholarships in his name. The alumni honored him again in 1978 with a special exhibition of his work. In 1983 he was one of six winners of the Indiana Arts Award given by the Indiana Arts Commission and the Indiana Advocates for the Arts.