Castor became known as one of the significant mid-century sculptors working in New York City in the 20th century, with large figural and religious sculptures commissioned by cathedrals, churches, museums and major office and municipal buildings, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Cathedral, Shearson Prudential, Mercedes Benz and the former European American Bank in Manhattan. He was also commissioned in the early 1970s to design and cast a series of athletic figures in the Sculptors Workshop at 185 East 80th Street. The collection was displayed at Graham Galleries in New York and then traveled on exhibit throughout the country, according to a news release.
In 1976, Castor co-founded the Castor-Cooper Collection of museum quality tableware with fellow sculptor Dorothy Cooper; he was also the chief designer in charge of design and manufacturing. The handcrafted objects of art were cast in the finest alloy of lead-free pewter, and no two pieces were identical. Titled the "Heirlooms of Tomorrow," the tableware collection was cast using a method known as “cire perdue” or "the lost wax process." Castor rejected the uniformity and lack of distinction marking the 20th-century trend toward mass production. Since each piece was cast individually by a method for pewter casting which has survived from antiquity, each piece has a notable character of its own.
“The old 16th century concept of a pewter studio doesn’t exist anywhere in this country today, except with us,” Castor said.
Castor was born in Ontario, Canada and moved with his family to Oklahoma, attending Central High School in Oklahoma City and pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at the University of Oklahoma. He graduated in 1939, receiving one of the first bachelor of fine arts degrees conferred by OU. He taught sculpture and ceramics at Central High School and Oklahoma City University.
He subsequently moved to New York and received a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1947 in art education and did graduate study in metallurgy research and the development of non-metallic minerals as they relate to the development of materials and techniques for sculpture. Castor had a celebrated career as a sculptor in New York and held the position as president of the Sculptors Workshop in New York City from 1951 to 1973, and he taught students from around the world the lost wax casting process in bronze and other non-ferrous metals.
Twenty years after her father's death, Waters enjoys bringing Castor’s work back to Oklahoma to share the story of his life and career.
