Evening star., 1937-08-21
By Leila MechHn.

~ UIlC NOl n ol HiflCi lIdll SNulplOlS >
40 we'll represented AS here in
Washington. And this is not bv
amples Of sculpture on display
hin the walls and beneath the
bfs OF art museums, but, for the
Pst part, in the open or functioning
an integral part of some public
lding, for the decoration of which
was created. The statue of Free
n," modelled by Crawford, Ameri-
sculptor. in Rome about 80 years
p, from her exalted position on
dome Of the Capitol can survey
whole development in the art
sculpture in America.
There had been some activity along
line before this imposing lady
fended her high place. A glance
onward over her shoulder would,
many years, have giver her a
mpse of Greenough's heroic. seated
tue of Washington, in classical
h-attire, burning in the mid-Sum-
sun and shivering in Winter
rms on the plaza to the east front
the Capitol. The sculptor of this
PIX himself declared that it would
found worth the price it cost
10000 as "evidencmg the first
ugeles of an infant art" Merci-
ly, this statue has now been put
der cover in the Smithsonian Build
.lso, risking a crick in her neck,
might have seen Greenough'S S
pup, The Rescue and Persico's S
ne Discovery" placed to either side
the main east entrance of the
pltol which she herself so hand
nely adorns. But in all probability
was much more interested in
Itching Gen. jackson mount his
hncing steed in Lafayette Square
posite the White House That was
1857, year after her own arrival,
this was the first equestrian
tue by an American sculptor to be
|cted in this country.
LARK MILLS. who modelled it,
had never seen an equestrian
tue and he had to cast it himself,
there was no bronze foundry at
t time in this country-an hercu-
Fn task The horse was cast and
in place some time before its
YER, the intrepid general and arch
mocrat, was hoisted to is back.
times it has been suggested that
might ride away. but he is still
where the Jacksonlans placed him,
h congressional approval, and there,
ls hoped, he will always stay-as
landmark, if nothing else, and
~ decorative one.
he statue of Freedom" has seen
less than Is other men and one
maid ride into Washington and
Fe up allotted positions in our pub
parks since then. OF these men
are military heroes and one a mis-
nary-Asbury. circuit rider. The
Id, as every one knows, is of Or
ms, Joan, martyr and saint of the
ming spirit. No other city in this
tntry-probably in the world-has
large a number of bronze men on
Fseback. The sculptors in almost
&ry instance were Americans, and
t some of the statues take their
ce with the best of all lands and
be, gives occasion for req asonable
de-
Fhe statue of Gen. Thomas by
hrd is, for example, supremely fine.
sllhouettes charmlngly as one ap-
paches from east or west on Mas
fhusetts avenue; 1t has a quiet dig
4 y; rider and horse are one, vitally
' TT but not restless. Shradys Grant
Excellent, but trile discounted in
Pct by the dominance of the Artil-
y and Cavalry groups which flank
H. K. Browns Scott and Greene
credltable performances, espe-
lily when the date of their execu-
b Is taken under consideration. Nc
plan by Macmonnies is i'll placed
the head Of Connecticut avenue on
crest OF a hill too high above
Psersby TO be seen to advantage, but
is a most excellent and spirited
rk-and of this more later.
F ALL the equestrian statues in
Washington, that by Gutzon
Felum OF Sheridan is the most ami
ted and out Of the ordinary. The
fse has been halted in hea dlong
Fht and is pulled back almost to a
flng position by the riders strong
Pnd on the reinS. There is a tre-
|ndous effect of arrested motion.
/ the front view is not good and the
flon when studied seems futile.
zen. When some one complained
this work at the time that the
ldei was exhibited Mr. Borglum's
ply was that we in Washington were
used to seeing clothespin men on
|oden horses that we did not recog-
fe the merit of animation-but this
70 INV liSSCSSdl iIy lollOW.
Surveying the sculpture set up in
Rshington by official consent, the
|e Hamilton Mabie, some 25 years
more ago, remarked that it was to
hoped that future generations,
fglng our memorials, would realize
hey were erected in ignorance and
r through malice Probably he
d at the time been vi-wing the ILL
ted Sherman statue south of the
|easury Department and mentally
impaired it to the magnificent Sher-
hn by Saint-Gaudens in New York.
Pe sculptor to whom the commission
this statue was originally given
ia before his work was completed
d it was taken over by some one
e, thus passing through many vicis-
|udes, but it has no mitigating merit.
There are other examples of the
|llptures art in public places in this
Nations Capital to which we do
4 point with pride, but this is true
even the capital cities of Europe.
p the whole, our average is rather
kh, all considered. Since Mr..
hble's structures were made the Art
nm ission has come into existence,
kter1ally safeguarding against sub
4uent inartistic blunders.
CQUISTTION is, moreover, a much