The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-12-20
TODAY IN HISTORY
First American Sculpture.
TUEsDAY. DECEMBER 90.

Tho early settlers OF America being
made up. In great measure. OF Furi-
thns. Qunkers and other relgionjSts, VINO
had come to This country 10 escape per-
secullon at home. brought with them
strict ideas OF morality OF every chnrac-
ter II was but natural then that they
should look al anything OF very worldly
character with suspicion. Consequently
sculpture was held by the first Amcri-
cans as an invention OF the devil. Tho
Puritan5 OF New England were brothers
to the men who decapitatcd the cathe-
dral statuary. asserting II TO bc shame =
ful and immoral
The cuakcrs OF Pennsylvania like wisc
looked askancc upon sculpture and found
llttlc IN IL but suggestlvencss. Tho carly
Dutch settlers had come here not To dab
bic in ihc arts, bat to lay the lounda =
tIons for commercial institutions.
II Is interesting 10 note, therefore, that
II WAS 81 woman who first gave sculptural
expression 10 the American pcople-'a-
tlcncc Lowell who born at Bordcu-
town. n, j.. on December 90. li25. Al
though there was not a statue in that
miniature heads in wax. At twenty
three years OF age she married Joseph
Wright, Later Fhe removed 20 London.
where she believed there were wider op-
porluniucs for her talent In i7S5 she
died I'm London. but her son. Joseph
Wright. studied with Benjamin Wcst and
returned TO the United States as an
American painter.
Virginia was the earliest patron ot
sculpture IN America. granting 10 Hou-
don. Il French sculptor IN 1851 marbl"
statue Of George Washington and OF La
laYcitc. HoudOn Sailod With Franklin on
July >, 1855. and made the FIRST Contri-
button 10 the sculpture OF the new
world
The second surtor who visited Amer
lea was Giuseppe Corracchl. au Italian
who had worked with Canova upon sCulp-
lurCE for the Pantheon. lie came to
america in 1871 With tho plan TO present
crtN-a colossal group. 100 feet high. in
which the Goddess of Liberty Is repre-
scntcd descending in a car drawn by four
horacs. darling through volume OF
clouds which Conccals tho summit Of
rainbow, Washington headed the list 10
obtain this work. but the sculptor was
unsuccossful and returned 10 France.
Native art owes much 10 William Rush.
who was born In Philadelphia. and was
tho founder of tn" Academy OF Fine Arts.
Tho FIRST American deliberately choosing
sculpture as n profession for serious study
was lloratlo Grccnongh who was born
the novelist, WAS ono OF his patrons. and
he used his Influence TO have Him rc"-
oEniZcd rs the American peoples FIRST
great native sculptor Through his "t-
20 immortHlizo Washington as the Father
of His Country" The story Of Green
ouEh's Washington is tragedy. lle
him az colossal God like
figure. with lower limbs covered with n
loose drapery and seated in = majestic
chair. The statue met with ridiculc and
tHuntS After being subjected to much
iGnominy tn" figure was placed outside
tn" capitol. where II still stands
tn" sculptor was very much affected
by tho storm OF ridicuo. The tragedy nf
the iirst American sculptor closed on De-
ccmhcr Is. 1852 The depth Of this mans
soul is shown by some OF his last words
which n" wrote in the closing DAYS OF his
forty-scvcn years of NE: - would not
pass away and not lcay" a sign that 7.
FOR ono. born by the grace Of God. in
this land, found life cheerful thing. and
not tina, sad and dreadful task with
whose prospect they scared my youth
II was but tho first OF the hundreds of
tragedies that have hecu suffered In the
building OF national art ON the west
rru continent