Artwork Detail

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Spanish American War Memorial or The Hiker

Artist: Kitson, Theo Alice Ruggles

Object Date: 1941

Medium: Bronze on concrete and stone

Imperial Dims: Overall: 135 x 96 x 96 in.

Department(s): Parks and Recreation

Supervisorial District: 5

About the Artwork:

This bronze sculpture by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, is one of 52 casts of the Spanish American War Memorial (also known as The Hiker) made between 1921 and 1956 to commemorate the 1898 Spanish American War. Los Angeles County presented and dedicated this artwork to the United Spanish War Veterans of Southern California in 1940. The sculpture is six feet tall and stands on a concrete and granite base. The work depicts a solitary man dressed in canvas clothes and a fedora hat. He holds a rifle in front of his body and stands facing straight ahead. For many years The Hiker was located in Arcadia Park at the southwest corner of Huntington Drive at Santa Anita Avenue, but it was moved to its present location in the Park’s center and rededicated on June 21, 1993.

About the Artist:

Theo Alice Ruggles (1871-1932) was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. She showed an early sculptural ability and by the time she was nineteen she had exhibited and won an honorable mention at the Société des Artistes Français, Paris. In 1893 she married fellow sculptor, Henry Hudson Kitson. Her most famous artwork is The Hiker and casts of it can be found in cities all over the United States.