Louis St. Gaudens
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Louis St. Gaudens (New York, NY, January 8, 1854 – Cornish, New Hampshire, March 8, 1913), was a significant American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation. He was the brother of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Louis changed the spelling of his name to St. Gaudens to differentiate himself from his well-known brother.
Born to a French father, Barnard Paul Ernest Saint-Gaudens and an Irish mother, he was raised in New York and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1899. St. Gaudens wife, Annette Johnson. His son, Paul St. Gaudens, was a master potter and known for his Orchard Kiln Pottery Works. St. Gaudens died of pneumonia on March 8, 1913. St. Gaudens home and studio in Cornish, New Hampshire was a former Shaker Meetinghouse and is on the National Register of Historic Places and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
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[edit] Artwork
His brother taught him cameo-cutting and later assisted him in beginning his art studies in Rome.
He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris from 1879 to 1880. St. Gaudens sculpted major pieces for the Boston Public Library, Church of the Ascension, NYC, Brearly School, NYC, Union Station, Washington, D.C., U.S. Customs House, NYC, St. Louis Art Museum, Metropolitan Art Museum, NYC, New York Life Insurance Company Building, NYC and the Joseph Francis U.S. Congressional Metal and the Benjamin Franklin Centennial Medal of 1906.
His completion of over fifty sculptures for Washington, DC's Union Station is considered his masterwork.
He was a member of the National Sculpture Society.
[edit] Significant Works
- 1894 Lions - Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
- 1891 Young St. John the Baptist - Font of Church of the Ascension (New York)
- 1896 Statue of Homer - Main Reading Room, Library of Congress - Washington, DC
- 1905 Holland Statue, Exterior of Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York, NY
- 1905 Portugal Statue, Exterior of Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, New York, NY
- 1908 Joseph Francis Medal, United States Mint
- 1912 Prometheus (Fire) "The Progress of Railroading" - Exterior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
- 1912 Thales (Electricity) "The Progress of Railroading" - Exterior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
- 1912 Themis (Freedom or Justice) "The Progress of Railroading" - Exterior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
- 1912 Apollo (Imagination or Inspiration) "The Progress of Railroading" - Exterior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
- 1912 Ceres (Agriculture) "The Progress of Railroading" - Exterior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
- 1912 Archimedes (Mechanics) "The Progress of Railroading" - Exterior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
- 1914 Forty-six Roman Legionnaire Statues - Interior of Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
[edit] References
- "Art In American Churches", New York Times, January 20, 1895
- "Art Notes", New York Times, December 21, 1884
- "Louis St. Gaudens Dead", New York Times, March 13, 1913
- "Uncle Sam's Medal Factory", Washington Post, June 13, 1909
- Armstrong, Craven, et al, 200 Years of American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of Art, NYC, 1976
- Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y. Crowell Co, NY, NY 1968
- Goode, James M., The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, DC, Smithsonian Press, Washington, DC, 1974
- Johnson, Louis, Early History of the Home & Studios of Louis and Annette St. Gaudens Published by John H. Dryfhout, Cornish, NH
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Edited and Amplified by Homer Saint-Gaudens, Published By The Century Co. New York, MCMXIII
- Taft, Lorado, The History of American Sculpture, MacMillan Co., New York, NY 1925
- Wilkinson, Burke, and David Finn, photographs, Uncommon Clay: The Life and Works of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, San Diego 1985
