Hughes Curtis was born in Springville, Utah in 1904. Primarily a self-taught sculptor, he was part of the ongoing tradition of the realistic school of western American sculpture. He died in 1972.

Curtis lost his leg in an accident when he was a boy. By the time he was nine, he had learned to carve his own crutches. He also carved wooden guns, animals, and whistles. Two famous Utah artists mentored Curtis. In 1919, the nationally known sculptor Cyrus Dallin, a Springville native, met Curtis and trained him to sculpt with clay. Howard Kearns, a Utah painter and friend of Curtis, attended art school in California and sent art books that informed Curtis's artistic vision to him. When Kearns visited Utah, he and Curtis went on sketching trips together.

Curtis established one of the earliest bronze foundries in Utah. Two of Curtis's notable sculptures are Saddling Up (1942) featured in the Springville Museum of Art permanent collection and Rim Rock (1961).

Biographical information on this page was adapted from the Springville Museum of Art.