Augustus st. gaudens biography

Augustus Saint-Gaudens , the leading American sculptor of the late 19th century, is best known for his bronze historical memorials. He grew up in New York City.

Robert gould shaw memorial

At the age of 13 he was apprenticed to a cameo cutter, and he later attended classes at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. His marble Hiawatha and Silence, carved in Rome, were his only significant works in the still prevalent neoclassic style. Shortly after Saint-Gaudens returned to the United States in , he received the commission for the Adm.

This work, which was completed in , is imbued with the spirit of the early Renaissance, and it established his reputation. It was the first of a number of memorials relating to the Civil War. In the Farragut monument he combines the idealistic sense of the heroic with vivid portraiture. The base is adorned with extremely delicate low-relief sculptures, a form which Saint-Gaudens revived from the Renaissance.

Saint-gaudens double eagle

He had already achieved success in low-relief portraits. As in the Farragut, he was associated with the architect Sanford White in constructing the base. His next major Civil War monument was the complex memorial to Robert Gould Shaw , who had led the first regiment of Negro troops from Massachusetts and died during the conflict in This monument, opposite the State House in Boston, has a high-relief equestrian statue and other figures in varying depths of relief.

Probably Saint-Gaudens's best-known work is his memorial to Gen. The figure of Victory is based on the ancient Victory of Samothrace, and the great equestrian statue is related to Donatello's 15th-century Gattamelata. Perhaps his most moving and affecting sculpture is the figure sometimes entitled Grief , the monument to Mrs.