Saint-Gaudens, << saynt GAWD uhnz, >> Augustus (1848-1907), was a famous American sculptor. His works include public monuments, portraits, and symbolic figures. Saint-Gaudens created sculptures in a simple, naturalistic style, reducing details to express the essential character of the subject.
Saint-Gaudens’s first major triumph was a vigorous, heroic bronze statue for the Admiral David Farragut monument (1881) in Madison Square Park in New York City. The Shaw Memorial (1897) in Boston Common honors the commander of a black Civil War regiment. Saint-Gaudens created standing and seated statues of Abraham Lincoln for Chicago parks in 1887 and 1906. His General William Tecumseh Sherman on horseback (1903) stands at the entrance to Central Park in New York City. The moving, hooded figure of the Adams Memorial (1891) expresses sadness and resignation to death. It is in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Saint-Gaudens was born on March 1, 1848, in Dublin, Ireland, but grew up in New York City. At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to a cameo cutter. He studied at the National Academy in New York City, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and in Rome. He died on Aug. 3, 1907. Today, the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park preserves the New Hampshire home, gardens, and studios of the famous sculptor.
