Native New Yorker Charles Keck (1875-1951), studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students' League with Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He spent a number of years at the Academy in Rome, as well as working in Greece, Florence and Paris. Keck was a member of the National Academy of Design, the Architectural League of New York, the Numismatic Society, American Federation of the Arts, the National Sculpture Society, the National Arts Club, and the Century Association.

Keck's sculptures can be seen throughout the United States including the frieze on the facade of the Bronx County Building in New York. Keck designed three busts for the Hall of Fame of Great Americans: James Madison, Elias Howe and Patrick Henry. Perhaps his most famous work is the Liberty Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which was presented as a gift to the Brazilian government from the American Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Brazil.

Keck also designed coins and medals including the US Panama-Pacific Exposition gold dollar, 1915; the Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar, 1927; the Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar, 1936; The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tribute to William Barton Rogers medal, 1916; the Vermont Sesquicentennial medal, 1917; and the Lewis Stephen Pilcher medal, 1916. He is also the designer of the Great Seal of the state of Virginia created in 1931.

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