Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-04
so it must be true and there was probably
none unwilling to submit work to his judg-

so it must be true" and there was probably
none unwilling to submit work to his judg-
ment.
Saint Gaudens In Washington.
In the spring Of 1904 Mr.. Saint Gaudens
occupied for several weeks q studio here in
the Art Students League building while
he was modelling bust of Secretary Hay
and a bas-relief Of Mr.. and Mrs. Wayne
MacVeagh. No card was on his door and
but few were aware that he was in WASH
ington, but those who CHANGED to seek ad-
mission were courteously greeted by a
small, gentle-mannered man, With pointed
beard. bright, piercing eyes, low voice and
quick motions. who had the air of one in
authority, but without a trace of pomposity
or self-consciousness.
At the memorable banquet given by the
American Institute Of Architects at the
New Willard in January. 1905, Mr.. Saint
Gaudens was one of the speakers, but after
declaring that the utterly hopeless and
helpless limitations OF his oratory was one
subject of which he had no doubt, he mere
ly expressed his pleasure at being included
in a company assembled to honor that
which makes for the nobility and elevation
of nfe-the love Of beauty" This, however.
" oo tiiC hCy AiOtc VI Ills O"A Woih anu ilc.
His was essentially a beautiful art, and
whatever he touched he ennobled and dig
nifed. His conceptions were plastic. but
his genius was trained. No amount of
teaching could have made him what he
was. but without 1t his work would have
been less important
His Masterpiece Here.
The Adams memorial. which Is In Wash
ington at Rock Creek cemetery he has
often spoken Of as his masterpiece. This
has been variously called Grief" Death
and THE Peace of God" but it has no in
scription and the sculptor himself was
never willing to explain 1t. Inscrutable,
majestic, awesome, this bronze figure
seated on a rough stone against an inlet
tered wall, keeps guard over the great
mysteries. "Baf1ed but ever fascinated"
wrote a well-known sculptor of this me-
mortal, lone fingers there Indifferent to the
flight Of time, awed into reverence. One
feels no concern In trifles when confronting
eternity-and that is where one finds him
self when under the spell Of this amazing
work.
Many, it Is said, believe the Shaw me-
mortal in Boston to be Mr.. Saint Gaudens
greatest and most original work and none
able whether either it or the equestrian
statue Of Gen. Sherman in New York would
have won for him the renown or con-
tributed so largely to his lasting fame as
the Adams memorial or the Farragut or
Lincoln statues. In both the Shaw me-
mortal and the Sherman statue he shows
however. breadth of Imagination and
power to transcend the commonplace and
to interpret great deedsin art terms
His Mastery Of Relief.
And yet the work in which Saint Gaudens
excelled beyond all others has not been
mentioned-his handling Of relief Perhaps
his apprenticeship to the cameo cutter gave
him facility in this line, but nothing but
his own genius could have taught him to
impress upon low surfaces 50 sure a token
of the spirit of art. One is as moved by
the charm of workmanship when viewing
these medallions as by some great art Gre
alton. Take. for example. his portrait of
Robert Louis Stevenson or that baby like
ness of his own son. Homer. What could
be more refined and at the same time more
satisfying?
Mr.. Saint Gaudens was not infaliible He
did not always succeed. His works were
not all uniformly good. but they all showed
to greater or less degree what, for lack
OF better name. Is called inspiration. And
yet We are told that the sculptor never
waited for vision-that 'he had enough
to do In between times to keep him busy"
that, in other words. he was a worker as
well as dreamer and he always put forth
y 10, hast