Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-11-03
SAiNT-GAU DENS'S STUDIOS
To Be Kept as Permanent Memorial
of the Great Sculptor.

OF the Great Sculptor.
When Augustus Saint Gaudens was
beginning work on his statue of Lin
coin for Chicago his friend, c. C. Be-
man, urged him to go up and stay
among the hills near Windsor, VT.
saying that there were plenty of Lin
eoln-shaped men up there. He found
the men. and presently he fell in love
with the place. That was in 1885, and
theneeforth the sculptor was estab-
lished at Aspect, as he called his home,
from his fathers birthplace in France.
The "Reminiscences" explain how he
| little by little developed his estate, i'm
proving the house, building studios
and golf course, and stamping his
individuality upon the beautiful land
scape. One of the studios was burned
i'm 1904, but was rebuilt. The two are
well placed, not far from the house,
with which they make a charming en-
semble. Shortly after the sculptor'S
death Mrs. Saint-Gaudens and her son
conceived the idea of preserving the
studios as permanent memorial, be-
leving that this would be appropriate
in itself and would also be of some
service to American art. In the larg-
err of the two buildings, the one erect
ed after the fire, there are casts of the
standing Lincoln, the figure of Victory
for the Sherman monument, the Puri-
tan, the Adams monument and other
works on the heroic scale. In the So
called little studio some of the
larger monuments reappear in reduc-
tons. and concentrated here are the
4,
which has most of the space in this
building is left practically as it was
when Saint-Gaudens died. His desk
in the corner remains untouched 1.-THE
books on the shelves above it are
carelessly bestowed. as in his day.
The place has been made into a muse
UNI, but with such good judgment that
the old atmosphere continues to per-
wade it.
There are, all told, about one hum
dred of the sculptor's works assem-
bled in these studios. The collection
of the reliefs is complete. embracing
not only the familiar portraits, but Il
few of those inimitable caricatures
with which Saint Gaudens loved to
surprise his friends. The variations
of the Stevenson are shown: the Dia-
ma of the Tower is included, and
among the reductions are the heads of
the Lincoln, the Farragut, the Shaw
and the Victory. OF special interest
are the unfinished groups for the Bos-
ton Public Library, which have peen
put into bronze OF these Royal Cor
tissoz writes in the New York IT'D
une: "They have been untouched by
any hands save the sculptor's own,
and in their unfinished but still we'll
developed condition they illustrate ms
art in a peculiarly personal fasnion'
| The seated figures are imposing types
of dignity and grace, and they are
grouped with all of his strong feeling
! for unity in composition. Because
they were not wholly completed they
| did not find their appointed place IN
| Boston, but this does not affect their
value as museum pieces. Some day
they may possibly migrate from Wind
sor, but in that case it is to be pre-
sumed that casts will be substituted
!, for them there"
| THE studios promise to become i'm
portant, objects of pilgrimage" con-
tinues Mr. Cortissoz: nowhere else
/
died as it can be studied here, at fuii
length and under unique conditions'
, The latter unquestionably do much 10
| heighten the interest and charm OF tne
| museum. SaintGaudens chose Tor ms
home and workshop a very loveiy
scene. House and studios rise amio
| lawns and gardens. with Mount AS
Quincy towering in the distance. MO-
far away from the house, well WITHIN
/ the sculptor's own domain, there was
given in June, 1905, the masque OF Ihe
! Gods and the Golden Bowl written
by Louis Saint-Gaudens. graceIui
formed in celebration of the tWenti-
eth anniversary of the founding OF the
Cornish colony by Augustus ana AN.
gusta. Saint Gaudens. A graceIuI
temple, containing an altar, CLASSICAL
| in design, and executed in plaster
4 supplied the central motive Tor the
dramatic spectacle. Saint -Gauoens
was .overjoyed by this tribute OF ms
/ friends and neighbors. and In requitai
4 he modelled an exquisite plaque oe-
picting the temple and bearing the
names of all the participants IN tne
masaue. Today, on the site OF the
| masque, Mrs. Saint Gaudens ana ner
| son are rebuilding the temple In mar
j BILE, and there her husbands asnes
! will be deposited with those OF ms
| brother and grandson. Thus the scuip-
tor and his family will rest in sylvan
/ auietude and beauty, near to the very
spot where the fruits of his genius
will go on working their spell. hos
| ton Evening Transcript