Albert Laessle (1877-1954), was a Philadelphia sculptor who combined science and art to create realistic animal studies. Laessle was born in Philadelphia in 1877 and spent most of his youth there. His father, Henry Laessle, was a woodcarver, and it is here that Laessle was most likely introduced to three-dimensional artistry. He enrolled in the Spring Garden Institute and later the Drexel Institute, which have him enough preliminary training to be accepted at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), where he studied with Thomas Anshutz (1851-1912) and Charles Grafly (1862-1929) from 1901 to 1904.

In 1901, Laessle was a contender for the gold medal of the Philadelphia Club with his first animal sculpture, Laessle's treatment of this plaster group (a turtle and crab combating over the body of a crow) was so accurate that it became the center of a controversy that emerged on the front pages of the Philadelphia newspapers. Laessle was accused of casting the turtle from life. While he was pleased by this backhanded compliment, he refused to defend his work in newsprint. His silence was interpreted as an admission of guilt, and suspicion cost him the gold medal.

Through the Cresson Traveling Scholarship, recommended by Grafly, Laessle was able to study in Paris. Working under the direction of Michel Beguine, Laessle spent the years from 1904-1907 there. While Laessle worked on portrait busts, figures, and traditional still-lifes, small animal studies were still an interest. Turtles were especially common in Paris at the time, as they were imported from Algiers and kept in basements for insect control. In 1905, Laessle borrowed one from his concierge and produced a work entitled This sculpture - of a turtle raised on two legs and balanced by its head, caught in a moment of instability while righting itself - did not depict an unusual action, but this portrayal in sculptural form is unique. Shown in the Paris Salon of 1907, served to repeat Laessle's Philadelphia experience. Because of the accuracy of detail, the jury refused to believe that the piece had been modeled.

After his return to America, Laessle continued study with Charles Grafly. His interest began to turn more and more exclusively toward animal subjects. He bought a country studio outside of Philadelphia where he could be surrounded by the animals that fascinated him. "To do anything with animals," he explained, "you have to know your subject. Looking at it from the safe side of iron bars won't give you much information." When not working at his country retreat, he brought small mammals and reptiles to his studio in Philadelphia, which he shared with Charles Grafly. For a while, He even kept modeling equipment at the Philadelphia Zoo, where he most likely modeled his of 1908.

Laessle's choice of animal subjects and his attention to naturalistic detail established him as a member of the unofficial group of American "animaliers" working in the U.S. from the late 19th century. Edward Kemeys (1843-1907), Eli Harvey (1860-1957), and Alexander Phimister Procter (1862-1950) were among this group.

The two decades after his return from Paris appear to have been Laessle's most successful. During this period, he produced more sculpture, won more awards, and met with more popularity than at any other time in his career. In 1910, when Laessle was awarded a bronze medal in Buenos-Aires, an international reputation was established. Five years later, he was given the PAFA Fellowship Prize and a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.

Extremely realistic at first, Laessle's sculpture began took on an expressionistic quality as early as 1908, as with his At times, his work was purposely rough and impressionistic, breaking new ground in style and technique. It is remarkable that Laessle, trained in a Beaux Arts tradition, had the courage to cast them in that state. His freely modeled castings of 1916, which he referred to as sketches, show one extreme of Laessle's style, while his streamlined of 1918 reflects the modernity of the twenties and thirties. Behind the creative experimentation of these works, however, lies the firm foundation in anatomy.

By 1908, Laessle was teaching at PAFA. He retired from teaching in 1939, because of a heart condition, but continued to serve as consultant and juror for many of PAFA's shows. When his wife, Mary, suffered a fatal stroke in 1944, Laessle remarried and settled in Miami, Florida, where he died in 1954.