Eugene L. Daub

Eugene Daub (born November 13, 1942) is an American contemporary figure sculptor, best known for his portraits and figurative monument sculpture created in the classic heroic style. His sculptures reside in three United States state capitals and in the National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol. His work also appears as public monuments, public art, and other permanent collections throughout the United States and Europe.

Early life and education Eugene Daub was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He attended Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; The Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, New Jersey; Rutgers University, New Jersey; and the Academy of Art College, San Francisco.

Personal life Eugene Daub is married to artist Anne Daub.

Career Eugene Daub began his career as an art director for an advertising firm. His first job in sculpture was for The Franklin Mint where he developed skills in relief sculpture.

He taught at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco from 1993 to 2007, and he has been an instructor at the Scottsdale Artists’ School since 1991.

Daub has exhibited extensively and has works in numerous public collections, including the Helsinki Art Museum, the British Museum; the Smithsonian Institution; The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol and the United States National Park Service.

Daub is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society.

Between 2004 and 2013, Daub joined sculptor Rob Firmin to form Daub & Firmin Sculpture Studios, LLC, where Daub served as master artist and principal sculptor, and Firmin served as designer, sculptor, historian, and proposal creator.

Artworks

Rosa Parks statue

In December 2009, the firm of Daub and Firmin won the design competition to create a statue of Rosa Parks for the U.S. Capitol. The full title of the statue was initially Rosa Parks: The Spark that Ignited the Modern Civil Rights Movement, and was subsequently updated to Rosa Parks: Taking Her Seat in History. USS San Diego Memorial, with Louis Quaintance. San Diego, 2008. Monument to General Bernard Adolph Schriever, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Los Angeles, California, 2007. Phineas Banning Memorial, statue of Phineas Banning, Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, 2004. Corps of Discovery, sculpture installation commemorating Lewis and Clark, Kansas City, Missouri, 2000. Thomas Jefferson, statue of Thomas Jefferson (based on events of a specific day as described in an unpublished history dissertation). University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

Numismatic work Eugene Daub's involvement with the American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA) brought contemporary American medallic art into an international movement. He is one of its pioneering members, serving as its Vice President and Past President.

Daub is the first sculptor since Daniel Chester French in 1919 to have sculpted more than one medal for the American Numismatic Society. He won both of the nation's highest awards for excellence in medallic art: the Saltus Award from the American Numismatic Society, and the gold medal from the American Numismatic Association. He is the designer of the first Philadelphia Liberty Medal awarded every year to a champion of world peace.

Notable medals Statue of Liberty Medal, American Numismatic Society 1986 Philadelphia Liberty Medal, 1986 Helsinki delegation medal, FIDEM convention 1991 Crazy Horse, first issued medal of the American Medallic Sculpture Association, 1987 Fire and Ice, #121 medal of the Society of Medalist , 1992 Discovery Medal, Brookgreen Sculpture Gardens, 1993 Wildwood Medal, Little Rock Arkansas, 1988 Kavli Prize Medallion, 2009 Lewis and Clark, Montana Historical Society , 2006 100th Anniversary Medal, New York Numismatic Club, 2008 Ruth Bader Ginsburg medallion, Jewish American Hall of Fame, 2012 Ratification Medal, United States Capital Historical Society, 1988

Publications A biography of Eugene Daub was published in 2025. Eugene Daub: Portraits, Medals and Monuments, edited by Andrea Serna and co-written by Rosa Lowinger, Ron Linden, Wolfgang Mabry, and George S. Cuhaj, contains over 200 images of his work over a 50 year career.

Awards Saltus Award1991. The Saltus Awardis the highest national and international recognition of the American Numismatic Society for excellence in medallic sculpture. Gold medal, from the American Numismatic Association for lifetime achievement in Medallic Sculpture. He is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society. Daub was awarded the Arthur Ross Award in 2002 by the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. Best Historical Sculpture award, Oakland Museum of California, California Arts Club, 2006 Best in Show Sculpture, Fallbrook Art Center, 2008 Elliot Gantz Foundry Award, Portrait Sculpture, 79th annual NSS exhibition, 2012 Agop Agopoff Memorial Prize, 2013 In September 2012 Daub was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Medal of Honor, National Sculpture Society, 2014. The Medal of Honor is the society's highest award, presented for notable achievement in and for the encouragement of American sculpture.