COWBOYS
(AND OTHER WILDLIFE)

BRONZE SCULPTURE
BY
DUKE SUNDT

Son of Harald S. and Roberta Sundt, youngest of four children, born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on June 9, 1948.

Upon arrival, Duke’s given name was Robert Harald Sundt (he often refers to this as his I.R.S. name).  As a child, his father nicknamed him the “Duke of Paducah” and later his family and friends shortened this to “Duke”.

Duke didn’t spend much time in Kansas after his birth, only six months to be exact. This was typical of the life of an “army brat”. While Harald was still in the military, Duke’s family lived in a number of places, however the last station of his father’s duty was to have the greatest influence on Duke and his future career as a sculptor. Between the ages of nine and thirteen, his family made their home in Copenhagen, Denmark where his father was appointed Chief of Armies Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG). Duke’s exposure to museums, art galleries, and outdoor monumental bronze sculpture in every city park, left a lasting impression which Duke firmly believes, led him to pursue a career as an artist specializing in bronze sculpture. At the age of thirteen, the Sundt family left Europe and moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico where his older brother, Chuck was attending New Mexico State University. The southwest, rodeo cowboys and Chuck’s “guidance” moved Duke into a new phase of his life, he refers to as “the rodeo years”. For the next seven years, Duke traveled the rodeo circuit, riding bareback broncs, saddle broncs, and bulls, finding encouragement to continue with an occasional trip to the pay window. Duke graduated from Las Cruces Highschool in 1966 and after working on his Uncle Harry’s ranch located in the Sangre de Cristo mountains just north of Las Vegas, N.M. for the summer, he started college at New Mexico State University in the fall of that same year. He entered college as an engineering student but soon learned the engineering field wasn’t his calling as he much preferred rodeoing, drawing cowboys and sculpting papier mache figures depicting rodeo events. In the fall of his junior year, he transferred into the art department at NMSU. In the art program, Duke continued to pursue the Western theme in his art projects and felt he was specifically attracted to sculpting. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis on sculpture in 1971.

Riverbend sculptor, Duke Sundt, has been tapped to create Vietnam Monument for the State Capitol grounds in Austin!!

"Silent Partners"
25" high x 19" wide
Edition 15

   

"The Ojito"
 Fountain with recirculating water pump
6 1/2' high, 4 1/2' long and 4'  wide
Edition 6

"No Batteries Required"
12" high x 13" wide
Edition 30
$1400

   

"Two Champs"
23" high x 20" wide
Edition 15

"A Pair to Draw To"
12 1/2" high x 9 1/2" wide
Edition 30

   

"When the Work's All Done This Fall"
14" high x 11" long x 11" wide
Edition 30

"Pronghorn Antelope"
 Bronze - #2/8
35" X 28"
 $ 9000.

   

"Texas Longhorn
12" high x 14" long
Edition 300
$2800

"The Catch Rope"
 Bronze - #12/50
 $ 450.

"Jinglin'"
 23" X 22"    Bronze  #11/50
 $5,500.

"The Traders"
New Mexico State University
1.2 x life size

COMMISSION OBJECTIVE: To design and produce a bronze sculpture depicting a tri-cultural subject with a business theme commemorating the centennial celebration of NMSU. As the artist, I chose an early trade scene circa 1850 in Northern New Mexico as my general subject. To insure the historical accuracy of my subject, I conducted extensive research at the Palace of the Governors Museum in Santa Fe, as well as the Ernest Thompson Seton Museum at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico.

"Korean Conflict - Tank Commander"

"WWI - Doughboy"

"Vietnam War - Infantry Soldier"

"Vietnam War - Infantry Soldier"