Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo New York

William Arthur Rogers

(1851-1946)

The dramatic 10-foot bronze sculpture “Aspiration” was created in 1926 by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980) for the Rogers monument in the Forest Lawn Cemetery at Buffalo, New York.  Frishmuth was well known for her sculptures of women.  Frishmuth studied briefly with Auguste Rodin in Paris, Cuno Von Uechtritz-Steinkirch at Berlin, and Gutzon Borglum in New York.

In 1933, another version of the “Aspiration” was carved out of a single block of granite for the Henry Berwind (1859-1932) monument in the Laurel Hill Cemetery, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The stone version of “Aspiration” marks the grave of businessman Henry “Harry” Berwind, vice president of the Berwind-White Coal Company, run by his brother, Edward.

Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania