Augustus Saint-Gaudens | |
|---|---|
 Saint-Gaudens in 1905 | |
| Born | (1848-03-01)March 1, 1848 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | August 3, 1907(1907-08-03) (aged 59) Cornish, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Education | Cooper Union,National Academy of Design,École des Beaux-Arts |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Spouse | Augusta Fisher Homer Saint-Gaudens |
| Children | Homer Saint-Gaudens[1] |
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (/ˌseɪntˈɡɔːdənz/; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an Irishsculptor of theBeaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of theAmerican Renaissance.[2] Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Irish-French family, and raised inNew York City. He traveled to Europe for further training and artistic study. After he returned to New York City, he achieved major critical success for his monuments commemorating heroes of theAmerican Civil War, many of which still stand. Saint-Gaudens created works such as theRobert Gould Shaw Memorial onBoston Common,Abraham Lincoln: The Man, andgrand equestrian monuments to Civil Wargenerals:General John Logan Memorial in Chicago'sGrant Park[3] andWilliam Tecumseh Sherman at the corner of New York'sCentral Park. In addition, he created the popular historicist representation ofThe Puritan.
Saint-Gaudens also createdClassical works such as theDiana, and employed his design skills innumismatics. He designed the $20Saint Gaudens Double Eagle gold coin (1905–1907) for the US Mint, considered one of the most beautiful American coins ever issued,[4] and the $10 "Indian Head"gold eagle; both of these were minted from 1907 until 1933. In his later years he founded the "Cornish Colony", anartist's colony in New Hampshire that included notable painters, sculptors, writers, and architects. His brotherLouis Saint-Gaudens, with whom he occasionally collaborated, was also a well-known sculptor.
Saint-Gaudens was born inDublin, Ireland, to an Irish mother and French father, Bernard Paul Ernest Saint-Gaudens, a shoemaker by trade from a village in theFrench Pyrenees,Aspet, 15 kilometers fromSaint-Gaudens. His parents emigrated to America when he was six months of age, and he was reared in New York City.
In 1861, he became an apprentice to acameo-cutter, Louis Avet, and took evening art classes at theCooper Union in New York City.[5][6] Two years later, he was hired as an apprentice of Jules Le Brethon, another cameo cutter, and enrolled at theNational Academy of Design.[7][8] His apprenticeship was completed by the age of 19 and he traveled to Paris in 1867, where he studied in theatelier ofFrançois Jouffroy at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts.[9]
In 1870, he left Paris for Rome to studyart andarchitecture, and worked on his firstcommissions. There he met a deaf American art student, Augusta Fisher Homer. They married on June 1, 1877.[10] The couple had one child, a son namedHomer Saint-Gaudens.
In 1874,Edwards Pierrepont, a prominent New York reformer, hired Saint-Gaudens to create a marble bust of himself.[11] Pierrepont, aphrenologist, proved to be a demanding client, insisting that Saint-Gaudens make his head larger.[11] Saint-Gaudens said that Pierrepont's bust "seemed to be affected with some dreadful swelling disease" and he later told a friend that he would "give anything to get hold of that bust and smash it to atoms".[11]
In 1876, he won a commission for a bronzeDavid Farragut Memorial. He rented a studio at 49 rueNotre Dame des Champs.[12]Stanford White designed the pedestal. It was unveiled on May 25, 1881, inMadison Square Park.[13] He collaborated with Stanford White again in 1892–1894 when he createdDiana as a weather vane for the second Madison Square Garden building in New York City; a second version used is now in the collection of thePhiladelphia Museum of Art,[14] with several reduced versions in museums including theMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The statue stood on a 300-foot-high tower, makingDiana the highest point in the city. It was also the first statue in that part of Manhattan to be lit at night by electricity. The statue and its tower was a landmark until 1925 when the building was demolished.[15]
His masterpiece,Amor Caritas (Angel of Charity), is his vision of the ethereal female, which he modeled repeatedly in stone and bronze between 1880 and 1898.[16] A heroic-sized bronze version won the Grand Prize at the ParisExposition Universelleof 1900, cementing Saint-Gaudens' reputation as America's premier sculptor.[17] Because of its popularity, some 20 smaller-scale versions were produced by Saint-Gaudens and sold through high-end retail outlets such asTiffany & Co.[18] Most of them are now in museums, including theMetropolitan Museum of Art.[19] The face of the angel, like that ofDiana, is modeled after the artist's longtime mistress and muse, Davida Johnson Clark.[20]
In New York, he was a member of the Tile Club, a group of prominent artists and writers, includingWinslow Homer (his wife's fourth cousin),William Merritt Chase andArthur Quartley.[21] He was also a member ofThe Lambs,Salmagundi Club andthe National Arts Club in New York City.
In 1876, Saint-Gaudens received his first major commission: amonument to Civil WarAdmiralDavid Farragut, in New York'sMadison Square; his friendStanford White designed an architectural setting for it, and when it was unveiled in 1881, its naturalism, its lack of bombast and its siting combined to make it a tremendous success, and Saint-Gaudens' reputation was established.
The commissions followed fast, including the colossalAbraham Lincoln: The Man inLincoln Park, Chicago in a setting by architect White, 1884–1887, considered the finest portrait statue in the United States (a replica was placed at Lincoln's tomb inSpringfield, Illinois, and another stands inParliament Square, London). The statue was highly influential for American artists and received widespread praise by critics.[22]
A long series of memorials, funerary monuments and busts, including theAdams Memorial, the Peter Cooper Monument atCooper Square, and the John A. Logan Monument. Arguably the greatest of these monuments is the bronze bas-relief that forms theRobert Gould Shaw Memorial onBoston Common, 1884–1897, which Saint-Gaudens labored on for 14 years; even after the public version had been unveiled, he continued with further versions. Two grand equestrian monuments to Civil Wargenerals are outstanding: to GeneralJohn A. Logan, atop a tumulus in Chicago, 1894–1897, and toWilliam Tecumseh Sherman onGrand Army Plaza at the corner ofCentral Park in New York (with the African-American modelHettie Anderson posing as an allegorical Victory), 1892–1903, the first use ofRobert Treat Paine's pointing device for the accurate mechanical enlargement of sculpture models. The depictions of the African-American soldiers on the Shaw memorial is noted as a rare example of true-to-life, non-derogatory, depictions of African physical characteristics in 19th-century American art.[23]
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For the Lincoln Centennial of 1909, Saint-Gaudens produced another statue of the president. A seated figure,Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State, is in Chicago'sGrant Park. Saint-Gaudens completed the design work and had begun casting the statue at the time of his death—his workshop completed it. The statue's head was used as the model for thecommemorative postage stamp issued on the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.[24]
Saint-Gaudens also created the statue for themonument ofCharles Stewart Parnell, which was installed at the north end of Dublin'sO'Connell Street, backing on toParnell Square in 1911.
In 1887, whenRobert Louis Stevenson made his second trip to the United States, Saint-Gaudens had the opportunity to make the preliminary sketches for a five-year project of a medallion depicting Stevenson, in very poor health at the time, propped in bed writing. With minor modifications, this medallion was reproduced for the Stevenson memorial inSt. Giles' Cathedral,Edinburgh. Stevenson's cousin and biographer, Graham Balfour, deemed the work "the most satisfactory of all the portraits of Stevenson". Balfour also noted that Saint-Gaudens greatly admired Stevenson and had once said he would "gladly go a thousand miles for the sake of a sitting" with him.[2]
Saint-Gaudens was also commissioned by a variety of groups to create medals including varied commemorative themes like The Women"s Auxiliary of the Massachusetts Civil Service Reform Association Presentation Medal and theWorld's Columbian Exposition Medal. Such pieces stand testament to both his broad appeal and the respect that was given to him by his contemporaries.
A statue of philanthropist Robert Randall stands in the gardens ofSailors' Snug Harbor in New York. A statue of copper kingMarcus Daly, first dedicated in 1907, is now placed at the entrance of theMontana Technological University (formerly the Montana School of Mines) on the west end of Park Street inButte, Montana. A statue of former United States Congressman and New York GovernorRoswell Pettibone Flower was dedicated in 1902 in Watertown, New York.[25]
Saint-Gaudens' prominence brought him students, and he was an able and sensitive teacher. He tutored youngartists privately, taught at theArt Students League of New York, and took on a large number of assistants. He was an artistic advisor to theWorld's Columbian Exposition of 1893, an avid supporter of theAmerican Academy in Rome, and part of theMcMillan Commission, which brought into beingL'Enfant's long-ignored master plan for thenation's capital.
Through his career Augustus Saint-Gaudens made a specialty of intimate private portrait panels in sensitive, very low relief, which owed something to the FlorentineRenaissance. It was felt he heavily influenced another Irish American sculptor,Jerome Connor.[26]
Over the course of his long career Saint-Gaudens employed, and by doing so, trained, some of the next generation's finest sculptors. These includedJames Earle Fraser,Frances Grimes,Henry Hering,Charles Keck,Mary Lawrence,Frederick MacMonnies,Philip Martiny,Helen Mears,Robert Paine,Alexander Phimister Proctor,Louis Saint-Gaudens,Elsie Ward andAdolph Alexander Weinman.[27]
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Saint-Gaudens referred to his early relief portraits as "medallions" and took a great interest in theart of the coin: his $20 gold piece, thedouble eagle coin he designed for the US Mint, 1905–1907, though it was adapted for minting, is still considered one of the most beautiful American coins ever issued.
Chosen byTheodore Roosevelt to redesign the coinage of the nation at the beginning of the 20th century, Saint-Gaudens produced an ultra high-relief $20 gold piece that was adapted into a flattened-down version by theUnited States Mint. The ultra high-relief coin took up to 11 strikes to bring up the details, and only 20 or so of these coins were minted in 1907. The Ultra High Reliefs did not stack properly and were deemed unfit for commerce. They are highly sought-after today; one sold in a 2005 auction for $2,990,000.[28] The coin was then adapted into the High relief version, which, although requiring eight fewer strikes than the Ultra High Relief coins, was still deemed impractical for commerce. 12,317 of these were minted, and are currently among the most in-demand U.S. coins. The coin was finally modified to a normal-relief version, which was minted from 1907 to 1933.[29] This design (an "ultra-high relief" $20) was successfully minted in 24 karat gold; 115,178 coins were produced. This coin was issued by the U.S. Mint in 2009.[30]
Diagnosed with cancer in 1900, Saint-Gaudens decided to live at his Federal house with barn-studio set in the handsome gardens he had made, where he and his family had been spending summers since 1885, inCornish, New Hampshire – though not in retirement. Despite waning energy, he continued to work, producing a steady stream of reliefs and public sculpture. In 1901, he was appointed a member of the Senate Park, or McMillan, Commission for the redesign of Washington, D.C.'s Mall and its larger park system, along with architectsDaniel Burnham andCharles Follen McKim, and landscape architectFrederick Law Olmsted Jr.; in 1902, the Commission published their report, popularly known as theMcMillan Plan.[31] In 1904, he was one of the first seven chosen for membership in theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters. That same year the large studio burned, with the irreplaceable loss of the sculptor's correspondence, his sketchbooks, and many works in progress.
TheCornish Art Colony Saint-Gaudens and his brother Louis attracted made for a dynamic social and creative environment. The most famous included paintersMaxfield Parrish andKenyon Cox, architect and garden designerCharles A. Platt, and sculptorPaul Manship. Included were paintersThomas Dewing,George de Forest Brush, dramatistPercy MacKaye, the American novelistWinston Churchill, and the sculptorLouis St. Gaudens, Augustus's brother. After his death in 1907, it slowly dissipated. His house and gardens are now preserved as theSaint-Gaudens National Historic Site.
Saint-Gaudens was elected a member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1896. In 1901, the French government made him anOfficier de la Légion d'honneur.[32] In 1920, Saint-Gaudens was posthumously elected to theHall of Fame for Great Americans.[33]
Saint-Gaudens and his wife figure prominently in the 2011 bookThe Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by historianDavid McCullough. In interviews upon the book's release, McCullough said the letters of Augusta Saint-Gaudens to her friends and family in the United States were among the richest primary sources he discovered in years of research into the lives of the American community in Paris in the late 19th century.
DuringWorld War II theLiberty shipSS Augustus Saint-Gaudens was built inPanama City, Florida, and named in his honor.[34]
In 1940, theU.S. Post Office issued a series of 35 postage stamps, 'The Famous American Series', honoring America's famous artists, poets, educators, authors, scientists, composers and inventors. The renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens was among those chosen for the 'Artists' category of this series and appears on this stamp, which was first issued in New York City on September 16, 1940.[35]
New York City'sPS40 is named after Saint-Gaudens.[36]
From January 16, 2007 through April 15, 2007, theFlagler Museum, Palm Beach, Florida, exhibitedAugustus Saint-Gaudens: American Sculptor of the Gilded Age.[37] It was organized by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C. in collaboration with theSaint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish, New Hampshire and displayed over 60 works. An earlier version of the show was shown at theNorth Carolina Museum of Art, February 23–May 11, 2003.
From June 30–November 15, 2009, theMetropolitan Museum of Art exhibitedAugustus Saint-Gaudens in The Metropolitan Museum of Art which displayed the full range of his work including cameos, bas-reliefs and public monuments.[38]
From September 15, 2013 - January 20, 2014, theNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., exhibitedTell It with Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial.[39] The memorial commemorates the July 18, 1863, storming of Fort Wagner, near Charleston, South Carolina byColonel Robert Gould Shaw and the54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first African American military units raised in the North. The exhibit was also shown at theMassachusetts Historical Society, February 21–May 23, 2014. The exhibit was accompanied by a brochure written by Lindsay Harris and a catalog by Sarah Greenough et al.
In 2023 theAmerican Federation of Arts, Chesterwood, and the Saint-Gaudens Memorial in partnership with the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park co-organizedMonuments and Myths: The America of Sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French,[40][41][42] an exhibit that examined their intersecting careers. The exhibit appeared atJule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, May 30–August 7, 2023;Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee March 1–May 27, 2024,Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania June 29, 2024 – January 5, 2025 andBrunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, February 8–May 18, 2025. The exhibition catalog was written by Andrew Eschelbacher. ISBN 978-3-777-44097-2
Among the public collections holding works by Augustus Saint-Gaudens are:
| Title | Image | Year | Location | Material | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admiral David Glasgow Farragut |  | 1881 | Madison Square Park,New York City | Bronze andgranite | exedra designed byStanford White |
| The Puritan |  | 1887 | Merrick Park, nearQuadrangleSpringfield, Massachusetts | Bronze and granite | |
| Standing Lincoln | | 1887 | Lincoln Park inChicago, Illinois | Bronze and granite | architectural setting by Stanford White additional castings located in Parliament Square, London, Mexico City, and at theSaint-Gaudens National Historical Park |
| Adams Memorial |  | 1891 | Rock Creek Cemetery,Washington, D.C. | Bronze and granite | architectural setting by Stanford White |
| General John Logan Memorial |  | 1897 | Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois | Bronze and granite | architectural setting by Stanford White, horse modeled byAlexander Phimister Proctor |
| Robert Gould Shaw Memorial |  | 1897 | Boston Common,Boston, Massachusetts | Bronze and granite | architectural elements designed byCharles Follen McKim |
| William Tecumseh Sherman |  | 1903 | Grand Army Plaza,Manhattan | Bronze and granite | granite pedestal designed by Charles Follen McKim |
| Henry W. Maxwell Memorial |  | 1903 | Grand Army Plaza,Brooklyn | Bronze and granite | Assisted byAlbert Jaegers |
| Christopher Lyman Magee Memorial |  | 1908 | Schenley Park,Pittsburgh | Bronze and granite | Architectural setting by Stanford White andHenry Bacon Assisted byHenry Hering |
| Seated Lincoln |  | 1908, unveiled in 1926 | Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois | Bronze and granite | architectural setting by Stanford White,Laurence Grant White andGraham, Anderson, Probst and White |
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