1.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
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Augustus Saint-Gaudens was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. In his later years he founded the Cornish Colony, a colony that included notable painters, sculptors, writers. His brother Louis Saint-Gaudens was also a sculptor with whom he occasionally collaborated. Born in Dublin to a French father and an Irish mother, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York, in 1861, he became an apprentice to a cameo-cutter, Louis Avet, and took evening art classes at the Cooper Union. Two years later, he was hired as an apprentice of Jules Le Brethon, another cameo cutter, at age 19, his apprenticeship completed and he traveled to Paris in 1867, where he studied in the atelier of François Jouffroy at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1870, he left Paris for Rome, to art and architecture. Pierrepont, a phrenologist, proved to be a demanding client insisting that Saint-Gaudens make his head larger, in 1876, he won a commission for a bronze David Farragut Memorial. He rented a studio at 49 rue Notre Dame des Champs and it was unveiled on May 25,1881, in Madison Square Park. The statue stood on a 300-foot-high tower, making Diana the highest point in the city and it was also the first statue in that part of Manhattan to be lit at night by electricity. The statue and its tower was a landmark until 1925 when the building was demolished, in New York, he was a member of the Tilers, a group of prominent artists and writers, including Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase and Arthur Quartley. He was also a member of the Salmagundi Club in New York, two grand equestrian monuments to Civil War generals are outstanding, to General John A. For the Lincoln Centennial in 1909, Saint-Gaudens produced another statue of the president, a seated figure, Abraham Lincoln, The Head of State, is in Chicagos Grant Park. Saint-Gaudens completed the work and had begun casting the statue at the time of his death—his workshop completed it. The statues head was used as the model for the postage stamp issued on the 100th anniversary of Lincolns birth. Saint-Gaudens also created the statue for the monument of Charles Stewart Parnell, with minor modifications, this medallion was reproduced for the Stevenson memorial in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. Stevensons cousin and biographer, Graham Balfour, deemed the work the most satisfactory of all the portraits of Stevenson, Balfour also noted that Saint-Gaudens greatly admired Stevenson and had once said he would gladly go a thousand miles for the sake of a sitting with him. Such pieces stand testament to both his appeal and the respect that was given to him by his contemporaries. His medals have been sold at auction for varying sums, a statue of philanthropist Robert Randall stands in the gardens of Sailors Snug Harbor in New York
2.
Bronze sculpture
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Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures, a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a bronze. It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs and it is often gilded to give gilt-bronze or ormolu. Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, then, as the bronze cools, it shrinks a little, making it easier to separate from the mould. Their strength and ductility is an advantage when figures in action are to be created and these qualities allow the creation of extended figures, as in Jeté, or figures that have small cross sections in their support, such as the equestrian statue of Richard the Lionheart. As recently as 2007 several life sized bronze sculptures by John Waddell were stolen, there are many different bronze alloys, and the term is now tending to be regarded by museums as too imprecise, and replaced in descriptions by copper alloy, especially for older objects. Typically modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin, alpha bronze consists of the alpha solid solution of tin in copper. Alpha bronze alloys of 4–5% tin are used to make coins, the proportions of this mixture may suggest that the candlestick was made from a hoard of old coins. The Benin Bronzes are really brass, and the Romanesque Baptismal font at St Bartholomews Church, Liège is described as both bronze and brass. In the Bronze Age, two forms of bronze were used, classic bronze, about 10% tin, was used in casting. Bladed weapons were mostly cast from bronze, while helmets. On one definition, modern statuary bronze is 90% copper and 10% tin, the great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the time of the introduction of the alloy for edged weapons. Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro belonging to Harappan Civilization dating back to 2500 BCE is perhaps the first bronze statue of the world, the Greeks were the first to scale the figures up to life size. Few examples exist in good condition, one is the seawater-preserved bronze Victorious Youth that required painstaking efforts to bring it to its present state for museum display, far more Roman bronze statues have survived. Over the long period of Egyptian dynastic art, small lost-wax bronze figurines were made in large numbers. Sri Lankan Sinhalese Bronze statue of Buddhist Alakothiveshwara Tara Devi statue now in England is an example of Bronze statues. From the ninth through the century the Chola dynasty in South India represented the pinnacle of bronze casting in India. Making bronzes is highly skilled work, and a number of casting processes may be employed, including lost-wax casting, sand casting. The term bronze is also applied to metal sculptures made by electrotyping, although these sculptures are typically pure copper and their fabrication does not involve metal casting
3.
John A. Logan
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John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War and he served the state of Illinois as a State Senator, a Congressman, and a U. S. Senator and was a candidate for Vice President of the United States with James G. Blaine in the election of 1884. As the 3rd Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic and his likeness appears on a statue at the center of Logan Circle, Washington, D. C. He is also honored with a statue in Grant Park in Chicago, Logan is one of only three people mentioned by name in the Illinois state song. Upon his death, he lay in state in the United States Capitol rotunda. He is the father of U. S. Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient John Alexander Logan, Jr. John A. Logan was born near what is now Murphysboro, Jackson County, Illinois. He studied with his father, who was a physician, and with a private tutor and he enlisted in the 1st Illinois Infantry for the Mexican-American War, and received a commission as a second lieutenant and assignment as the regimental quartermaster. After the war Logan studied law in the office of an uncle, graduated from the Law Department of the University of Louisville in 1851, in 1858 and 1860, he was elected as a Democrat to the U. S. House of Representatives. In 1853, John A. Logan helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including freedmen, from settling in the state. Soon after the victory at Donelson, he resigned his seat on April 2,1862 and was promoted to general in the volunteers. Major John Hotaling served as his chief of staff, to confuse matters, the 32nd Illinois was commanded at Shiloh by a different Colonel John Logan. During the Siege of Corinth, John A. Logan commanded first a brigade, in the spring of 1863, he was promoted to major general to rank from November 29,1862. In Grants Vicksburg Campaign, Logan commanded the 3rd Division of James B, mcPhersons XVII Corps, which was the first to enter the city of Vicksburg in July 1863 after its capture. Logan then served as the military governor. In November 1863 he succeeded William Tecumseh Sherman in command of the XV Corps, mcPherson during the day, he assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee. He was relieved a short time afterward by Oliver O. Howard and he returned to Illinois for the 1864 elections but rejoined the army afterward and commanded his XV corps in Shermans Carolinas Campaign. In December 1864, Grant became impatient with George H. Thomass unwillingness to attack immediately at Nashville, Logan was stopped in Louisville when news came that Thomas had completely smashed John Bell Hoods Confederate army in the Battle of Nashville
4.
Grant Park (Chicago)
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Grant Park is a large urban park in the Loop community area of Chicago. Located in Chicagos central business district, the parks most notable features are Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago, originally known as Lake Park, and dating from the citys founding, it was renamed in 1901 to honor Ulysses S. Grant. The parks area has expanded several times through land reclamation. It is bordered on the north by Randolph Street, on the south by Roosevelt Road and McFetridge Drive, on the west by Michigan Avenue, the park contains performance venues, gardens, art work, sporting, and harbor facilities. It hosts public gatherings, and several annual events. The park is often called Chicagos front yard and it is governed by the Chicago Park District. The original plans for the town of Chicago left the area east of Michigan Avenue unsubdivided and vacant, when the former Fort Dearborn Reserve became part of the townsite in 1839, the plan of the area east of Michigan Avenue south of Randolph was marked Public ground. Forever to remain vacant of buildings, the city officially designated the land as a park on April 29,1844, naming it Lake Park. When the Illinois Central Railroad was built into Chicago in 1852, the resulting lagoon became stagnant, and was largely filled in 1871 with debris from the Great Chicago Fire, increasing the parkland. In 1896, the city began extending the park into the lake with landfill, on October 9,1901, the park was renamed Grant Park in honor of American Civil War commanding General and United States President Ulysses S. Grant. At the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Grant had been nominated for his first presidential term, the legal restrictions prohibiting any buildings in the park were ignored in the 19th century, as various civic buildings were sited there. At various times, a post office, exposition center, armory, a 1904 plan prepared by the Olmsted Brothers recommended locating the Field Museum as the parks centerpiece, an idea integrated into Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennetts 1909 Plan of Chicago. Chicago businessman Aaron Montgomery Ward ultimately fought four court battles, opposed by nearly every civic leader, the one exception Ward consented to was for the Art Institute of Chicago, constructed in 1892. More landfill in the 1910s and 1920s provided sites for the Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History, and Shedd Aquarium, in 2004, a section of northern Grant Park, previously occupied by Illinois Central railyards and parking lots, was covered and redeveloped as Millennium Park. The park has been the site of large civic events. It served as the ground for the citys funeral procession for Abraham Lincoln. In 1911, the hosted the major Chicago International Aviation Meet. The park was the scene of clashes between Chicago Police and demonstrators during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, pope John Paul II celebrated an outdoor mass to a large crowd here in 1979
5.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
6.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
7.
1968 Democratic National Convention
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The 1968 National Convention of the U. S. Democratic Party was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, the keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine were nominated for President and Vice President, respectively. The convention was held during a year of violence, political turbulence, the convention also followed the assassination of Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, on June 5. Both Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had been running for the Democratic Nomination at the time, in 1968 the Democratic Party was divided. Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the campaign in November 1967, challenging incumbent President Johnson for the Democratic nomination, Robert F. Kennedy entered the race in March 1968. Johnson, facing dissent within his party, and having only won the New Hampshire primary. After Kennedys assassination on June 5, the Democratic Partys divisions grew, at the moment of Kennedys death the delegate count stood at Humphrey 561.5, Kennedy 393.5, McCarthy 258. Kennedys murder left his delegates uncommitted, in the end, the Democratic Party nominated Humphrey. Even though 80 percent of the voters had been for anti-war candidates. The loss was perceived to be the result of President Johnson, Humphrey, who had not entered any of 13 state primary elections, won the Democratic nomination, and went on to lose the election to the Republican Richard Nixon. Source, Keating Holland, All the Votes, really, CNN Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley intended to showcase his and the citys achievements to national Democrats and the news media. Rioting took place by the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois National Guard against the demonstrators, the disturbances were well publicized by the mass media, with some journalists and reporters being caught up in the violence. Network newsmen Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, and Edwin Newman were assaulted by the Chicago police while inside the halls of the Democratic Convention, the Democratic Presidential Nominating Convention had been held in Chicago 12 years earlier. Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley had played a role in the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. In 1968, however, it did not seem that Daley had maintained the clout which would allow him to bring out the voters again to produce a Democratic victory as he had in 1960. On October 7,1967, Daley and Johnson had a meeting at a fund raiser for President Johnsons re-election campaign. Johnsons pro-war policies had already created a division within the party
8.
The Puritan (Springfield, Massachusetts)
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Augustus Saint-Gaudens was one of the most influential and successful artists of the late 19th century. By 1881, Springfield had become one of Americas most innovative industrial and manufacturing centers, in 1899 the statue was moved to Merrick Park, on the corner of Chestnut and State Streets, one of Springfields most important intersections. It has remained ever since. This impressive sculpture of the The Deacon can be next to the palatial Springfield City Library. He correctly surmised that this would be an excellent source of addition income, today more than 25 slightly altered copies of this work can be found in museums, art galleries, universities, and private collections around the world. For example, a copy of The Puritan remains on display in gallery 767 of New York Citys Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New England Society of Pennsylvanians asked Gaudens to make a replica of The Puritan for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chapin himself, assuming there would be some family resemblance with the Deacon. The Puritan was originally placed on the South Plaza of City Hall but was relocated to its present site in Fairmount Park in 1920, public Art in Philadelphia Temple University Press,1992. The First Century of the History of Springfield, the Official Records from 1636 to 1736, with an Historical Review, Springfield MA. full text online Dryfhout, John H. The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens University Press of New England,1982, Augustus Saint-Gaudens in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v.66, no.4, Metropolitan Museum of Art Discussion of the sculptures history. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Master Sculptor, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on The Puritan
9.
Diana (Saint-Gaudens)
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Diana – also known as Diana of the Tower – is an iconic statue by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Once a famous New York City landmark, the second version stood atop the tower of Madison Square Garden from 1893 to 1925, since 1932, it has been in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Diana was commissioned by architect Stanford White as a weathervane for the tower of Madison Square Garden and he talked his friend Saint-Gaudens into creating it at no charge, and picked up the cost of materials. Model Julia Dudie Baird posed for the body of the statue and its face is that of Davida Johnson Clark, Saint-Gaudens long-time model and mother of his illegitimate son Louis. However, the Ohio metal shop was unable to pass the rotating rod through the toe, so the design was altered, Diana was unveiled atop Madison Square Gardens tower on September 29,1891. The 304-foot building had been completed an earlier, and was the second-tallest in New York City. But the addition of the statue made it the citys tallest, the figures billowing copper foulard was intended to catch the wind, but the statue did not rotate smoothly because of its weight. Dianas nudity offended moral crusader Anthony Comstock and his New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, to placate Comstock and to increase the likelihood of its catching the wind, Saint-Gaudens draped the figure in cloth, but the cloth blew away. Soon after installation, both White and Saint-Gaudens concluded that the figure was too large for the building, and decided to create a smaller, lighter replacement. Following less than a year atop the tower, the statue was removed and shipped to Chicago to be exhibited at the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition. New Yorker W. T. Henderson wrote a poetic tribute – Diana Off the Tower – a play on both the statues name and situation. Saint-Gaudens served as head of the Chicago expositions sculpture committee and his initial plan had been to place Diana atop the Womens Pavilion, but the citys Womens Christian Temperance Union protested and insisted that the controversial nude figure be clothed. Instead, it was placed atop the Agricultural Building, the original Diana does not survive. In June 1894, eight months after the closing, a major fire tore through its buildings. The lower half of the statue was destroyed, the upper half survived the fire, Diana was completely redesigned by Saint-Gaudens – with a more elegant pose, a different thrust to the body, a thinner figure, smaller breasts and a more graceful angle to the leg. To better fit the proportions of Madison Square Gardens tower, the height was scaled down to 14.5 feet. The statue was hoisted to the top of the tower on November 18,1893, during the day, the gilded figure caught the sun and could be seen from all over the city and as far away as New Jersey. Electric lights, then a novelty, illuminated it at night, Madison Square Garden was slated to be demolished in 1925, to make way for construction of the New York Life Building
10.
Indian Head eagle
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The Indian Head eagle was a ten-dollar gold piece, or eagle struck by the United States Mint continuously from 1907 until 1916, and then irregularly until 1933. The obverse and the reverse, designed by the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, were commissioned for use on other denominations. Saint-Gaudens was suffering from cancer, and did not survive to see the coins released, beginning in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the introduction of new, more artistic designs on US coins, prompting the Mint to hire Saint-Gaudens to create them. For the reverse of the coin the President decided on a design featuring a standing bald eagle. Following the sculptors death on August 3,1907, Roosevelt insisted that the new eagle be finished, New pieces were given to the President on August 31, which differ from the coins struck later for circulation. The omission of the motto In God We Trust on the new coins caused public outrage, Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber added the words and made minor modifications to the design. The Indian Head eagle was struck regularly until 1916, and then intermittently until President Franklin Roosevelt directed the Mint to stop producing gold coins in 1933 and its termination ended the series of eagles struck for circulation begun in 1795. Many Indian Head eagles were melted by the government in the late 1930s, at Roosevelts direction, the Mint hired Saint-Gaudens to redesign the cent and the four gold pieces, the double eagle, eagle, half eagle, and quarter eagle. The Liberty Head design had been first struck for the eagle in 1838, the last addition to the Liberty Head gold series, the designs of those pieces had remained unchanged for more than 25 years, hence they could be changed without an act of Congress. In 1905, Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber engraved the obverse of Roosevelts inauguration medal, while his assistant, George T. Morgan, Roosevelt disliked the work, and engaged Saint-Gaudens to design an unofficial medal commemorating the inauguration. Saint-Gaudens foresaw resistance from Barber on the question of the new coinage, he wrote to his brother, Louis Saint-Gaudens, but I had a talk with the President who ordered Secretary Shaw in my presence to cut Barbers head off if he didnt do our bidding. Roosevelt was impressed by some models Saint-Gaudens had prepared for the cent showing a head of Liberty and it is distinctly American, and very picturesque. Couldnt you have just such a head as you have now, numismatic historian Walter Breen described this as the absurd addition of a feathered warbonnet, such as neither Ms. Liberty nor any Native American woman would ever have worn. Art historian Cornelius Vermeule stated that the Indian Head eagle missed being a great coin because Roosevelt interfered with the choice of headdress for Liberty, in February 1907, Saint-Gaudens added the headdress to the head of Liberty. The double eagle would show a Liberty striding forward, with an eagle on the reverse. The President was prepared to meet personally with Saint-Gaudens if the sculptor objected, but unknown to Roosevelt he was ill with cancer. Mint Director George E. Roberts wrote to Saint-Gaudens on May 25,1907, the design for the Eagle shall be the feather head of Liberty with the standing eagle. Saint-Gaudens and his assistants moved quickly on the revision, the double eagles were then being delayed because Saint-Gaudens had twice sent the Mint models with too high a relief, which could not be struck in one blow, as required for circulating coinage
Media related to General John Logan Memorial at Wikimedia Commons
