Julius Peter Ambrusch Papers

Collection

Identifier: WH2473

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains materials dating from 1924 to 1978. Materials include a microfilm (C MSS Mflm1) copy of a scrapbook (1930-1978) with clippings, certificates, and photographs pertaining to the career of sculptor Julius Peter Ambrusch Papers and one photo album (1924-1956) containing b/w photographs primarily documenting Ambrusch's terracotta relief sculptures. Projects documented in the album include:

Alamosa High School (Alamosa, Colorado) Benedict Fountain (Denver, Colorado) Fairmont Cemetery Mausoleum (Denver, Colorado) KOA Radio Station (Denver, Colorado) Geology building, Colorado School of Mines (Golden, Colorado) Christ of the Rockies (Grant, Colorado) Lutheran Sanitorium (Wheat Ridge, Colorado) Omaha Union Station (Omaha, Nebraska) New Mexico Military Institute (Roswell, New Mexico) Fire Alarm building (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Tulsa Airport (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Amarillo Junior College (Amarillo, Texas) Geology building, University of Texas (Austin, Texas) Frontier Hotel (Cheyenne, Wyoming) Plains Hotel (Cheyenne, Wyoming) Our Lady of Sorrows Church (Rock Springs, Wyoming)

Courthouse projects in Boulder, Colorado; Longview, Texas; Tucumcari, New Mexico; and Casper, Cody, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, are also detailed in the album. Library projects documented include those in Grand Junction and Gunnison, Colorado; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Pocatello, Idaho. Also present in the album are photographs of three-dimensional sculptures, unidentified relief sculpture panels, and statues in Pressburg, Austria (now known as Bratislava, Slovakia).

Dates

1924-1978

Creator

Ambrusch, Julius Peter,1899-1983 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Copyright

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Biographical / Historical

Julius Peter Ambrusch was born to Julia and Stefan Ambrusch in Pressburg, Austria (now known as Bratislava, Slovakia) on February 2, 1899. On August 20, 1922, Julius Peter Ambrusch married Marie Kastl in Pressburg. The couple emigrated to Denver, Colorado, in 1923. They had two sons, Julius (1923-2007) and Roy (1927-2002).

Beginning in the mid-1920s, Ambrusch was employed by the Denver Terra Cotta Company, which produced facades, door lintels, panels, friezes, and ornamental tiles for building contractors. During the 1930s, Ambrusch sculpted pieces for several public buildings in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Texas. Also during the 1930s, he was commissioned to produce dioramas of early Colorado life for the Colorado State Historical Museum (now History Colorado). In 1934, Ambrusch's Christ of the Rockies, a 52-foot statue of Jesus, was dedicated in Grant, Colorado.

In the early 1940s, Ambrusch was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, where he made relief maps in addition to dam and terrain models. He retired in 1965. Julius Peter Ambrusch died in August 1983.

Extent

1 microfilm reel (Mflm1)

1 photo box (.25 linear feet)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, Julius P. Ambrusch, 1980. Gift, Jennifer Cappeto, 2021.

Related Materials

Respository also has oral history of Ambrusch (C MSS OH2-1)

General

Original retained by donor.

Subjects

Ambrusch, Julius Peter, 1899-1983 -- Archives.
Artists -- Colorado -- Denver. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Clippings (information artifacts) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Denver Terra Cotta Company -- Archival resources
Microfilms Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Personal papers Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Scrapbooks Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Sculptors -- Colorado -- Denver. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings