Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Biography

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), a sculptor of French-Irish immigrant roots, was the most esteemed American sculptor of his day. Over four decades, he lived in New York, Paris, Rome, and Cornish, New Hampshire. Saint-Gaudens worked in Cornish during the summers between 1885 and 1897, and then year-round after 1900. His outstanding works include major public commissions, such as Admiral David Glasgow Farragut Monument (1877–80) and General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument (1892–1903) in New York; Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln) (1884–87) in Chicago; Adams Memorial (1886–91) in Washington, DC; and Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial (1884–97) in Boston. Saint-Gaudens also produced portrait busts and reliefs of many notable individuals, and created designs for the US $10 and $20 gold coins first minted in 1907. 

References

Gaich, Catherine, et al. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1848-1907: A Master of American Sculpture. Exh. cat., Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, and Musée National de la Coopération Franco-Américaine, Château de Blérancourt. Paris: Somogy, 1999.

 

Dryfhout, John H. The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens.1982. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2008.

 

Duffy, Henry J., and John H. Dryfhout. Augustus Saint-Gaudens: American Sculptor of the Gilded Age. Exh. cat. Washington, D.C.: Trust for Museum Exhibitions, 2003.

 

Greenthal, Kathryn. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Master Sculptor. Exh. cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985.

Saint-Gaudens, Homer, ed. The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. 2 vols. New York: Century Co., 1913.

 

Tolles, Thayer. “Augustus Saint-Gaudens” in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 66, no. 4 (Spring 2009): 5-79.

 

Tolles, Thayer. “Augustus Saint-Gaudens,” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn More

 

Wilkinson, Burke. Uncommon Clay: The Life and Works of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985.

Public Sculpture

    Boston

Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Memorial (1884–97), Boston Common. Learn More

 

      Chicago

Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln) (1884–87), Lincoln Park. Learn More

      New York

Admiral David Glasgow Farragut Monument (1877–80), Madison Square Park. Learn More

 

General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument (1892–1903), Grand Army Plaza. Learn More

 

     Philadelphia

Diana (1892–93), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Learn More

 

      Washington, DC

Adams Memorial (1886–91), Rock Creek Cemetery. Learn More