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Page:EB1911 - Volume 24.djvu/546

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516
SCULPTURE
[AMERICAN


his skill in the rapid execution of cleverly-wrought impressionist statuettes of figures and horses as well as busts. heir value lies in the vivid representation they give of Russian life and types. Among the most original modern Russian sculptors is Naoum Aronson (b. 1872), whose best-known work is his Beethoven monument at Bonn. At Godesberg is his Narcissus fountain, whilst other works of his are at the Berlin, St Petersburg and Dublin Museums.  (M. H. S.; P. G. K.) 

The early names in American sculpture-Shem Drowne, the maker of weather-vanes; Patience Wright (1725–1785); William United Rush (1765–1833), carver of portraits and of figure-heads for ships; John Frazer (1790–1850), the stone cutter; and Hezekiah Augur (1791–1858)—have the interest of chronicle at least. Hiram Powers (1805–1873) had a certain technical skill, and his statues of the “Greek Slave” (carved in 1843 in Rome and now at Raby castle, Darlington, the seat of Lord Barnard, with a replica at the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, and others elsewhere) and “Eve before the Fall” were important agents in overcoming the Puritanic abhorrence of the nude. Horatio Greenough (1805–1852), Joel T. Hart (1810–1877), S. V. Clevenger (1812–1843) and Clark Mills (1815–1883) all received many commissions but made no additions to the advancement of a true art-spirit. Thomas Crawford (1814–1857) began the bas-reliefs for the bronze doors of the Capitol, and they were finished by William H. Rinehart (1825–1874), whose “Latona” has considerable grace. Henry Kirke Brown (1814—1886) achieved, among less noteworthy works, the heroic “Washington” in Union Square, New York City. It is one of the noblest of equestrian statues in America, both in breadth and certainty of handling and in actual majesty, and reliects unwonted credit on its' period. Erastus D. Palmer (1817–1904) was the first to introduce the lyrical note into American sculpture; his statue, “The White Captive,” and still more his relief, “Peace in Bondage,” may be named in proof. There is undeniable skill, which yet lacks the highest qualities, in the work of Thomas Ball (b. 1819). William Wetmore Story (1819–1896), whose “ Cleopatra,” though cold, shows power; Randolph Rogers (1825–1892), best known for his blind “Nydia,” and for his bronze doors of the Capitol at Washington; John Rogers (1829–1904), who struck out a new line in actuality, mainly of an anecdotal military kind; Harriet Hosmer (1830–1908), a classicist, whose recumbent “Beatrice Cenci” is perhaps her most graceful work; J. S. Hartley (b. 1845); Launt Thompson (1833–1894) are among the leaders of their day. The works of Olin L. Warner (1844–1896) and J. Q. A. Ward (1830–1910) reveal at times far greater originality than any of these. Warner’s two graceful classical igures for a fountain in Portland, Oregon, and his admirable portrait statue of William Lloyd Garrison, reveal a nice discernment of the fitness of manner to matter. He was also successful in modelling medallions. Ward has a sturdiness, dignity, and individuality quite his own, and may be considered at the head of his own generation. In addition to these should be mentioned Larkin G. Mead (b. 1835), George Bissell (b. 1839), Franklin Simmons (b. 1839), Martin Milmore (1844–1883), Howard Roberts (1843–1900), Moses Ezekiel (b. 1844), 'all of whom are prominent in the history and development of sculpture in America. By their time the sculptors of America had wakened completely, artistically speaking, to a sense of their own nationality.

It was however later that came that inspired modernity, that sympathy with the present, which are in some senses vital to genuinely emotional art. American sculpture, like American painting, was awakened by French example. The leading spirit in the new movement was Augustus St Gaudens (q.v.), a great sculptor whose work is sufficiently dealt with in the separate article devoted to him. Two other Americans stand out, with St Gaudens, among their contemporaries, Daniel Chester French (q.v.) and Frederick Macmonnies (q.v.). French’s “Gallaudet teaching a Deaf Mute” is an example of how a difficult subject can be turned into a triumph of grace. His “Death and the Young Sculptor” is a singularly beautiful rendering of the idea of the intervention of death. In collaboration with E. C. Potter he modelled various important groups, particularly “Indian Corn” and the equestrian “Washington,” in Paris. The “Bacchante” of Macmonnies, instinct with Renaissance feeling, is a triumph of modelling and of joyous humour; while his statue of “Nathan Hale” in City Hall Park, New York, his “Horse Tamers,” and his triumphal arch decorations for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial at Brooklyn, show the artist’s power in the treatment of a serious theme.

The strenuous achievements of George Grey Barnard have both high skill and deep sincerity. His “Two Natures,” his “Brotherly Love,” his “Pan” and the design for a monumental Norwegian stove are among the strongest efforts of modern American statuary. Ranking with him, though different in thought and method, stands Paul Wayland Bartlett. Success, too, artistically has been accorded to the fine works of John J. Boyle, William Couper, twenty years of whose life were passed in Florence, William O. Partridge, Hermon MacNeil and Lorado Taft. The beautiful busts of Herbert Adams; the thoroughly artistic miniature figures of Mrs Clio Hinton Bracken; the graceful figurines of Mrs Potter Vonnoh; Edwin F. Elwell’s “Egypt" and “Orchid ”; and the work of F. Wellington Ruckstuhl should also be mentioned; also J. Massey Rhind, a Scotsman by birth and artistic education, John Donoghue, Charles H. Niehaus, Roland H. Perry (“Fountain of Neptune ), Andrew O'Connor, lerome Conner, John H. Roudebush, and Louis Potter. Equally noteworthy are Bela L. Pratt (“General Benjamin F. Butler memorial), Cyrus E. Dallin (with Wild West subjects), Richard E. Brooks, Charles Grafly (“Fountain of Life ”), Alexander S. Calder, Edmund A. Stewardson (“The Bather”) and Douglas Tilden (“Mechanics’ Fountain,” San Francisco). The leading “animaliers” include Edward Kemeys (represent in the Southern states), Edward C. Potter, Phimister Proctor, Solon H. Borglum, Frederick G. Roth, and Frederick Remington. Among the women sculptors are Mrs Kitson, Mrs Hermon A. MacNeil, Miss Helen Mears, Miss Evelyn Longman, Miss Elise Ward, Miss Yandell and Miss Katherine Cohen.  (M. H. S.) 

Literature.—On the general history of sculpture, see Agincourt, Histoire de l’art (Paris, 1823); du Sommerard, Les Arts au moyen âge (Paris, 1839–1846); Cicognara, Storia della scultura (Prato, 1823–1844); Westmacott, Handbook of Sculpture (Edinburgh, 1864); Lübke, History of Sculpture (Eng. trans., London, 1875); Ruskin, Aratra Pentelici (six lectures on sculpture) (London, 1872); Viardot, Les Merveilles de la sculpture (Paris, 1869); Arsenne and Denis, Manuel . . . du sculpteur (Paris, 1858); Clarac, Musée de sculpture (Paris, 1826–1853); Demmin, Encyclopédie des beaux-arts plastiques (Paris, 1872–1875), vol. iii.

On Italian and Spanish sculpture, see Vasari, Trattato della scultura (Florence, 1568, vol. i.), and his Vite dei pittori, &c., ed. Milanesi (Florence, 1880); Rumohr, Italienische Forschungen (Leipzig, 1827–1831); Dohme, Kunst und Künstler Italiens (Leipzig, 1879); Perkins, Tuscan Sculptors (London, 1865), Italian Sculptors (1868) and Hand-book of Italian Sculpture (1883); Robinson, Italian Sculpture (London, 1862); Gruner, Marmor-Bildwerke der Pisaner (Leipzig, 1858); Ferreri, L’ Arco di S. Agostino (Pavia, 1832); Symonds, Renaissance in Italy (London, 1877), vol. iii.; Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Hist. of Painting in Italy (London, 1903) (new ed.), vol. i.; Selvatico, Arch. e scultura in Venezia (Venice, 1847); Ricci, Storia dell’ arch. in Italia (Modena, 1857–1860); Street (Arundel Society), Sepulchral Monuments of Italy (1878); Gozzini, Monumenti sepolcrali della Toscana (Florence, 1319); de Montault, La Sculpture religieuse à Rome (Rome, 1870), a French edition (with improved text) of Tosi and Becchio, Monumenti sacri di Roma (Rome, 1842); Cavallucci and Molinier, Les Della Robbia (Paris, 1884); Cicognara, Monumenti di Venezia (Venice, 1838–1840); Burges and Didron, Iconographie des chapitaux du palais ducal à Venise (Paris, 1857) (see also Ruskin’s Stones of Venice); Richter, “Sculpture of S. Mark’s at Venice, “Macmillan’s Mag. (June 1880); Temanza, Vita degli scultori veneziani (Venice, 1778); Diedo and Zanotto, Monumenti di Venezia (Milan, 1839); Schulz, Denkmäler der Kunst in Unter-Italien (Dresden, 1860); Brinckmann, Die Scul tur von B. Cellini (Leipzig, 1867); Eug. Plon, Cellini, sa vie, Ere. ggaris, 1882); John Addington Symonds, The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (London, 1887); Moses and Cicognara, Works of Canova (London, 1824–1828); Piroli, Fontana and others, a series of engraved Plates of Canova’s Works, s.l. et a.; Giulliot, Les Artistes en Espagne (Paris, 1870); Carderera y Solano, Iconografia espanola, siglo XI-XVII (Madrid, 1855–1864); Monumentos arquitectonicos de España, published by the Spanish government (1859), passim; Lord Balcarres, The Evolution of Italian Sculpture (London, 1910); L. Freeman, Italian Sculpture of the Renaissance (London, 1901); A. . Willard, Hist. of Modern Italian Art (London, 1898). The recent literature on the subject is too copious to be catalogued here; every phase of the art has been critically dealt with and nearly every sculptor of importance has been made the subject of a biography; e.g. John Addington Symonds, The Life of Michelangelo Buonarrati, 2nd ed. (London, 1898); Sir Charles Holroyd, Michael Angelo Buonarroti (London, 1903); Lord Balcarres, Donatello (London, 1903); and G. H. Hill, Pisanello (London, 1905). For repertoires of sculptural works, see collections such as Reale Galleria di Firenze: