Adalbert J. Volck

Volck studied at University of Maryland School of Dentistry and Technische Hochschule Nuremberg Georg Simon Ohm. The recorded working language is German and English. The field of work recorded is caricature and dentistry. Places of work recorded in the authority are Baltimore and United States. Residence is recorded at Baltimore. Work by Adalbert J. Volck is recorded in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, New York Historical, Print Collection and Maryland Center for History and Culture.

• Name — Adalbert J. Volck • Born — 14 April 1828 • Birthplace — Augsburg, Bavaria • Died — 25 March 1912 • Place of death — Baltimore, Maryland, US • Field — Caricatures, Political cartoons • Education — Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (DDS) • Spouse — Letitia Roberta Alleyn

Volck was born April 14, 1828, in Augsburg, Bavaria, the third of thirteen children born to Andreas Volck, a vinegar maker. He received his education in art in Nuremberg and Munich.

Upon arriving in America, Volck initially joined a brother-in-law in St. Louis, before following the California Gold Rush west in 1849. Volck had previously studied dentistry in Germany, and resumed that profession in Baltimore. While working under the supervision of Chapin A. Harris, he received his dentistry degree from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1852 with a thesis on the subject of "nerves." After graduating in Baltimore, he established a lifelong practice there. Volck was known for his work on porcelain restoration techniques. Volck was a member of many of elite Baltimore's social clubs, including the Athenaeum Club, and James Innes Randolph's Whitebait Club. He was a founding member of Baltimore's Wednesday Club, an arts and culture society influential in the city during the latter 19th century. Volck was also a founding member of the Charcoal Club of Baltimore, a prominent artists' group.

Volck injured both knees in an accident, following which he retired from his dentistry practice, focusing his final years on landscape paintings based on sketches he had made of the American West. He died at his home on Linden Avenue on March 26, 1912. After his death, an acquaintance wrote to The Baltimore Sun that Volck "deeply regretted" having caricatured Lincoln, "whom he had entirely misunderstood."