Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Augustus Saint -Gaudens ( born March 1, 1848 in Dublin, † 3 August 1907 in Cornish, New Hampshire ) was a famous American sculptor of the 19th century, who also painted images on coins. Saint- Gaudens is considered the most important sculptor of the historical era of the Gilded Age.

Life

Saint- Gaudens was the son of a French shoemaker, with Huguenot ancestors, and an Irish mother. Half a year after his birth his family emigrated to New York, where he grew up. In 1861 Saint- Gaudens made ​​an apprenticeship with a Caméeschleifer and attended art classes on the side at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the National Academy of Design in New York. After his education he traveled in 1867 to Paris and studied at the prestigious École nationale supérieure des beaux -arts de Paris sculpture. After three years he left Paris and went to Rome, where he studied the next five years ancient art and architecture and received first orders. In Rome he met the American art student Augusta Homer, whom he later married (1877 ). Saint- Gaudens ' admiration for the art and architecture of the Renaissance, especially for the reliefs and medals that time, had a lasting effect on his artistic style which was characterized by a very personal interpretation of the realism of the 15th century and the ancient heritage - a synthesis, which in turn should influence American sculpture in the late 19th century. He became famous zugestalten a monument in honor of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut Civil War With the order from 1878.

President Theodore Roosevelt on request, designed Saint-Gaudens in 1904 three coins for the U.S. Mint. With this order, Saint- Gaudens was the first sculptor who was allowed to make a full American coin. 1900 was diagnosed with Saint- Gaudens cancer. Despite the shrinking forces he went the next seven years on with his work and created in perpetual succession reliefs and public monuments.

Saint- Gaudens National Historic Site

The Saint- Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire, is dedicated to the memory of the sculptor.

Works (selection)

Plaque at the foot of the sculpture in Madison Square, New York City

Bronze statue of Diana at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Robert Gould Shaw Memorial