Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Monumental Heroism

In this installment of “Profiles in History,” we look at the works and life of a great American sculptor of public works.

The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, 1884–1897, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Boston Common, Boston, Massachusetts. Rhododendrites/CC BY-SA 4.0

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) possessed the rare gift of expressing the heroism of both mythological and natural figures, and often, he combined the two to express the heroism of modern Americans.

Born in Dublin in the midst of the Great Famine, his French shoemaker father, Bernard Paul Ernest Saint-Gaudens, moved his family to America only months after Saint-Gaudens’s birth. It was a decision both immediately necessary and ultimately history-making.

The Apprentice

During the years of the Civil War, Saint-Gaudens apprenticed with French cameo cutters in New York City, learning first under Louis Avet for three years, and then, after a falling out with Avet, under Jules Le Brethon. While apprenticing, he also attended classes in New York at the National Academy of Design and the Cooper Union. Noticing their son’s gift for sculpting, Bernard Saint-Gaudens and his wife, Mary McGuinness, permitted him to pursue his artistic education in Paris.

“Hiawatha,” 1872, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Postdlf/CC BY-SA 3.0

In 1867, Augustus Saint-Gaudens arrived in Paris. He worked as a cameo cutter to support himself while studying under French sculptor François Jouffroy, who was impressed with the young man’s ability and in 1868 recommended his admission to the prestigious Ècole des Beaux-Arts.

When the Franco-Prussian War broke out, the artist moved south to Rome where he completed one of his first sculptures: the “Hiawatha” in marble. Saint-Gaudens had received inspiration for the thoughtful piece after reading Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha.”

Over the next several years, he moved back and forth between New York City and Rome, all the while working on his craft. He permanently returned to New York in 1875 to work for Tiffany Studios as a metal engraver; there, he befriended painter John La Farge and architects Stanford White and Charles McKim. La Farge encouraged Saint-Gaudens to pursue the art of reliefs.

“Abraham Lincoln: The Man,” 1887, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Lincoln Park, Chicago. AndrewHorne/CC BY-SA 3.0

Seeking Reliefs

At La Farge’s urging, Saint-Gaudens applied for the commission to sculpt a monument of Adm. David Glasgow Farragut to be displayed in Madison Square Park. Farragut, who was a rear admiral during the Civil War, is best known for his defiant words “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed!” at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

When Saint-Gaudens won the commission in 1876, he decided to return to Paris with his new wife along with architect White, where he began work on the monument. White designed the exedra, or semicircular stone base, for the monument. After its completion and unveiling in 1881, the talents of the young artist were in great demand.

Monument of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, 1880, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Madison Square Park, New York City. CC BY 2.5

The numerous works of Saint-Gaudens can be found in places ranging from Chicago and Washington to Boston and even the fireplace of Cornelius Vanderbilt II (the mantelpiece that now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art). He built some of the most memorable sculptures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including “Abraham Lincoln: The Man” (Chicago), “Diana the Huntress” (originally created to stand atop the tower of Madison Square Garden), the “Adams Memorial” (a haunting sculpture in Washington), “Deacon Chapin” (Springfield, Mass.), the “Sherman Monument” (an equestrian statue in New York City’s Central Park of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman led by the winged goddess Victory), and the “Shaw Memorial” (a bas-relief of Gen. Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Infantry Regiment on Boston Common, in Boston).

A Distinctively American Spirit

Regarding the “Sherman Monument,” Theodore Roosevelt, who became friends with Saint-Gaudens and commissioned him to design gold coins during his presidency, wrote to him, saying:

“I can say with all sincerity that I know of no man, of no one living, who could have done it. To take grim, homely, old Sherman, the type and ideal of a democratic general, and put with him an allegorical figure, such as you did, could result in one of two ways—a ludicrous failure, or striking the very highest note of the sculptor’s art. Thrice over to the good fortune of our countrymen, it was given to you to strike this highest note.”

Equestrian statue of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman accompanied by the allegorical figure Victory, 1902, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Grand Army Plaza, New York City. Public Domain

Though Saint-Gaudens died relatively young in 1907 due to cancer, his work left a lasting impression on American culture. His life’s work often reflected Longfellow’s epic poem, which stated:

Ye who love a nation’s legends, Love the ballads of a people, That like voices from afar off Call to us to pause and listen.

The work of Saint-Gaudens perhaps doesn’t “call us to pause and listen,” but it does “call us to pause and look.”

"Augustus Saint-Gaudens working in his studio," 1908, by Kenyon Cox. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Public Domain

As his friend and fellow artist Kenyon Cox wrote shortly after his death, “Though his origin was foreign, life-long associations had stamped him indelibly an American. The greater part of his work was done in America; almost all of it was done for America; and I do not think it is fancy that sees in his art the expression of a distinctively American spirit.”

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