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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
