Thaddeus Mosley, Beloved Self-Taught Sculptor, Dies at 99

"For more than 70 years, Mosley carved figures using mallets and chisels out of salvaged wood from Pennsylvania forests before finding acclaim in his ninth decade with shows at the Musée National Eugène Delacroix in Paris, Bergen Kunsthall in Norway, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, and elsewhere."

"Mosley frequently characterized his method as "sculptural improvisation." Inspired by Constantin Brancusi, African tribal art, and Isamu Noguchi, for whom he had a particular affinity, as well as classical jazz, he approached his work by letting the forms of his raw materials speak to him."

""I try to make things that generate their own spirituality so that people might feel something about it," Mosley wrote in a 2021 exhibition catalogue of his work at Karma Gallery. "What presence is to make something have a life of its own - the alchemy of turning""

Thaddeus Mosley, a self-taught sculptor from Pittsburgh, died on March 6 at age 99. For more than 70 years, he carved figures from salvaged Pennsylvania wood using mallets and chisels, remaining largely overlooked until his ninth decade when he gained international recognition. His work was exhibited at prestigious institutions including the Musée National Eugène Delacroix in Paris, Bergen Kunsthall in Norway, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. Mosley's artistic approach, which he called "sculptural improvisation," was inspired by Constantin Brancusi, African tribal art, Isamu Noguchi, and classical jazz. Rather than imposing predetermined shapes, he allowed the natural forms and gradations of wood to guide his creative process, aiming to create works with their own spiritual presence.

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