Charles Grafly was an American sculptor and an instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for 37 years. Born in Philadelphia, he was apprenticed at Struthers' Stoneyard at age 17. For four years he carved decorations and figures for Philadelphia City Hall, under lead sculptor Alexander Milne Calder. He also attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he studied with Thomas Eakins. In 1888 he went to Paris where he studied with Henri Chapu and Jean Dampt, before enrolling in the École des Beaux Arts. He won awards at the Paris Salon of 1891 and the Paris Exposition of 1900, as well as at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. In 1892 he became an instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where his students would include Paul Manship and Albert Laessle. Grafly designed public monuments around the nation, including the Pioneer Mother Memorial in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, for which the Delaware Art Museum owns a study.
