ARTIST STATEMENT

In the quest for a sculptural bust to adorn the bookcase of the Prestigious Library of the Salmagundi Club, I think there can be no artist better represented inside those walls than Salmagundi Club member Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Gaudens is an obvious choice for his clear embodiment of the ideals of the American Renaissance through innovative and masterful figurative sculpture. He is an example of an artist that has contributed to the great and enduring works of the nineteenth century. As a local fixture, his classical and emotive sculptural monuments have changed the landscape of NYC, as well as other cities across America and Europe. His monumental work is made of carefully designed compositions that partner and interplay with the architecture, parks and other public spaces in an effort to communicate, beautify and honor the human spirit, while his more intimate reliefs and portrait busts are sensitive captures of the individuality of his sitters. In addition, his contributions to the creation of an American movement for skillfully trained figurative artists confirm his place within the legacy of great American sculptors.

With my sculpture proposal, I have decided to reference Saint-Gaudens from a softer point of view, placing him in a gesture that communicates a similar level of sensitivity that he was known for. Gaudens was regarded as a thoughtful and gifted teacher that trained some of the finest American artists of the next generation through the creation of his own artists’ colony and other classical NYC institutions. His artwork also embodies this same tenderness and humanity that Gaudens himself carried. In style, I would like the portrait of Saint-Gaudens to pay homage to his great skill and delicacy of touch, with a nod towards naturalism, and a sense of romanticism that reflects the great care and focus that he brought to his own work.

This sculpture portrays Saint-Gaudens as an older man, in the more recognizable age that he is popularly known by. In artist uniform of his time, his tie sits a little loose beneath two layered jackets, which inspire the dual sense of professionalism that he brought to his work and the casual naturalism of his own lively sculptures. His signature hair is curled and flows in an easy, natural style, with overgrown beard and age in the eyes, sunken cheeks and weathered forehead- all signs of a man who has fully committed himself to his craft with the greatest tenderness, care and attention. I have intended his gaze to look outwards toward the viewer, with head tilted back and slightly to one side, as if in observation and the onlooker themselves are the subject of his next piece of artwork.

The base upon which the bust sits is classical in nature, and proportionally suited to the scale of the figure, as to not take away from the bust itself, but to engage in harmony with the size and positioning of Gaudens. It is also sculpted in loose reference to the classical bases found beneath his monumental work and delicate portraits.

It is my hope that this sculpture and the compositional and stylistic choices made here within have captured the spirit and the humanitarianism of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and duly pay homage to his remarkable and inspiring contributions to the great sculptures of the American Renaissance.