MASSACHUSETTS, August 6, 2011
A red-letter day in all respects. We woke at 5:00 for a 6:00 a.m. departure, feasting on yoghurt and fruit and fortifying ourselves with some good strong coffee. Josh, Marthe's boyfriend, came by at 6:00 a.m. to pick us up. Marthe had packed a picnic for lunch, and we settled in for a 3-hour drive past Manchester and up to Cornish, NH, site of the Augustus St. Gaudens Historic Site. Along the way we discovered a covered bridge and a mill, both of which made great photographic fodder.
Augustus St. Gaudens, in my opinion one of the greatest American sculptors ever, was born on March 1, 1848 in Dublin, of an Irish mother and a French father. Eventually, he ended up in New York City, where he grew up. He completed school at age 13, then expressed a strong interest in art as a career. He was apprenticed to a cameo cutter, but also attended art classes at New York's Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design.
At 19, with his apprenticeship completed, he went to Paris to study at the renowned Ecole des Beaux Arts. Then, in 1870, he went to Rome, where for the next five years he studied classical art and architecture and worked on his first commission. In Rome he also met Augusta Homer, whom he married. In 1876 he received his first major commission, a monument to Civil War Admiral David Farragut. It was unveiled in NY in 1881, and was a tremendous success.
All his works are imbued with a wonderful combination of realism and allegory.
In future years he fulfilled great commissions, but also had a strong interest in teaching. However, his greatest legacy consisted in his public monuments, such as the Sherman Monument in NY's Central Park and his "Standing Lincoln" in Chicago. He also produced other enduring and distinctive public sculptures such as the Adams Memorial, Peter Cooper Monument, and perhaps his greatest achievement and my favorite, the Shaw Memorial, unveiled in Boston in 1897 (it took 14 years to complete).
St. Gaudens first came to Cornish in 1885, renting an old inn for the summer from his friend and lawyer, Charles Beaman. He adapted the house to his needs and converted a hay barn into a studio. Saint-Gaudens grew to love the place and finally purchased it in 1892. The family continued to summer here until 1900, after which it became their year-round home. He named the estate Aspet after his father's birthplace in France. Over the years he transformed the grounds with gardens, hedges and recreation areas, including a swimming pool, bowling green, and nine-hole golf course. The house, built in 1800, was completely remodeled. A curving stairway with a study was added off the main hallway, along with new bedrooms, a sun room, dormers, and a wide porch with columns.
As his popularity grew and commissions poured in, Saint-Gaudens built a large studio where he and his assistants worked. His role became that of an executive producer, developing the concept and initial models for a sculpture, then directing his assistants in completing the work. In 1904 the large studio burned, destroying the sculptor's correspondence, sketchbooks, and many works in progress. A redesigned structure named the Studio of the Caryatids was quickly built, but in 1944 it too burned.
Many other well-known artists followed Saint-Gaudens to Cornish, forming what was known as the Cornish Colony: painters Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Dewing, George de Forest Brush, Lucia Fuller, and Kenyon Cox; American novelist Winston Churchill; architect Charles Platt and sculptors Paul Manship, Herbert Adams, and Louis St. Gaudens, brother of Augustus. They created a dynamic social environment, at whose center was Augustus St. Gaudens. After his death in 1907 (from intestinal cancer), the artist colony gradually dissipated. Aspet remains, however, a wonderful testimony to his great work and mentoring.
Ever since last year, I have been anxious to see this pilgrimage site, as, when I had been in Washington, D.C.'s National Gallery of Art with the 8th grade trip, I had seen the magnificent Shaw Memorial. And this year's pilgrimage did not disappoint. We started out at the Visitor Center with a video concerning his life and work, and then, before the tour of the house, I went to the bookstore and purchased a biography of the great man. We toured his house, then the various locations where his work was exhibited: the Farragut Monument, the New Gallery and Atrium, the Shaw Memorial (a monument to the Civil War service of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment of African-American volunteers in Boston); the Adams Memorial (a funerary sculpture commissioned by historian Henry Adams for his wife Clover, who had committed suicide. Adams called it "The Peace of God," and St. Gaudens called it "The Mystery of the Hereafter...beyond pain and beyond joy"). We went to his flower garden, his little studio, stable and ice house, and I was especially thrilled to see the cast of the bas relief of Robert Louis Stevenson, the bronze version of which hangs as my favorite at the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth. What an incredible place it was, with an amazing view of Mt. Ascutney in the distance. Three hours passed as if they were mere minutes, and I took a ton pictures of the place.
All of a sudden it was time to go, as we had another appointment to honor later in the afternoon. Marthe had spread out the picnic on a table, and we hastily had leftovers from yesterday evening's meal. And then we were off to Manchester, NH and the Currier and Ives Museum. We were not going to the museum, per se, but to the Zimmerman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. After about a 2-hour drive, we arrived there just in time to be carted off by shuttlebus to the house itself.
Dr. Isadore and Lucille Zimmerman had the house designed by Wright in 1950. He designed not only the house, but also the interiors, furniture, gardens, and even the mailbox. In 1979 the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the owners left the property to the Currier and Ives Museum in 1988. In 1990 it was opened to the public, and it is the only Wright house in New England that can be visited by the public.
It is a wonderful, low-slung Usonian building that again, in true Wright fashion, melds inside and outside beautifully, and especially the living room and the dining room are impressive, with great collections of pottery and sculpture reflecting the interests of the owners. Especially the wonderful book shelves to the left of the front door, and the music nook with grand piano and a fine music stand with multiple lecterns were noteworthy, as was the brick wall that left interstices which were filled with colored glass lit from behind. Wright, in my opinion, spent all of his energies on those very public rooms, and the bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen had a somewhat claustrophic feel to them--almost as if they were afterthoughts in his design concept. Nevertheless, a fabulous house which was most impressive and most successfully integrated outside and inside spaces into a harmonious, iconoclastic, and striking whole. No doubt, the architect's insistence on having sole creative sway contributes to the feeling of a mostly satisfying whole one feels when contemplating that house.
After the tour, we returned to the Currier and Ives Museum, which was about to close. I quickly picked up a few things in the store--mainly Wright mementos such as an appointment calendar and a t-shirt, as well as a wonderfully designed cloth bag.
While in Manchester, we drove downtown and had dinner at Republic Cafe, which had been recommended to us by the museum staff. We munched on hummus, quinoa, cauliflower, and, for dessert, a scrumptious apple tart, then drove for about another hour back to Hamilton. Josh, who had labored manfully under a bad cold all day, let Marthe drive and fell asleep in the back, and when we arrived at Marthe's, he left immediately. Sarah, Dean, and Owen had gone to visit friends elsewhere, and will not be back until tomorrow afternoon. Marthe is extremely tired and has retired. I am sitting here writing this, and afterwards will begin to read my new book on St. Gaudens. It has been one of those red-letter days for me, and I have enjoyed every minute of today. Greetings to all! As ever, Sylvia
Augustus St. Gaudens, in my opinion one of the greatest American sculptors ever, was born on March 1, 1848 in Dublin, of an Irish mother and a French father. Eventually, he ended up in New York City, where he grew up. He completed school at age 13, then expressed a strong interest in art as a career. He was apprenticed to a cameo cutter, but also attended art classes at New York's Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design.
At 19, with his apprenticeship completed, he went to Paris to study at the renowned Ecole des Beaux Arts. Then, in 1870, he went to Rome, where for the next five years he studied classical art and architecture and worked on his first commission. In Rome he also met Augusta Homer, whom he married. In 1876 he received his first major commission, a monument to Civil War Admiral David Farragut. It was unveiled in NY in 1881, and was a tremendous success.
All his works are imbued with a wonderful combination of realism and allegory.
In future years he fulfilled great commissions, but also had a strong interest in teaching. However, his greatest legacy consisted in his public monuments, such as the Sherman Monument in NY's Central Park and his "Standing Lincoln" in Chicago. He also produced other enduring and distinctive public sculptures such as the Adams Memorial, Peter Cooper Monument, and perhaps his greatest achievement and my favorite, the Shaw Memorial, unveiled in Boston in 1897 (it took 14 years to complete).
St. Gaudens first came to Cornish in 1885, renting an old inn for the summer from his friend and lawyer, Charles Beaman. He adapted the house to his needs and converted a hay barn into a studio. Saint-Gaudens grew to love the place and finally purchased it in 1892. The family continued to summer here until 1900, after which it became their year-round home. He named the estate Aspet after his father's birthplace in France. Over the years he transformed the grounds with gardens, hedges and recreation areas, including a swimming pool, bowling green, and nine-hole golf course. The house, built in 1800, was completely remodeled. A curving stairway with a study was added off the main hallway, along with new bedrooms, a sun room, dormers, and a wide porch with columns.
As his popularity grew and commissions poured in, Saint-Gaudens built a large studio where he and his assistants worked. His role became that of an executive producer, developing the concept and initial models for a sculpture, then directing his assistants in completing the work. In 1904 the large studio burned, destroying the sculptor's correspondence, sketchbooks, and many works in progress. A redesigned structure named the Studio of the Caryatids was quickly built, but in 1944 it too burned.
Many other well-known artists followed Saint-Gaudens to Cornish, forming what was known as the Cornish Colony: painters Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Dewing, George de Forest Brush, Lucia Fuller, and Kenyon Cox; American novelist Winston Churchill; architect Charles Platt and sculptors Paul Manship, Herbert Adams, and Louis St. Gaudens, brother of Augustus. They created a dynamic social environment, at whose center was Augustus St. Gaudens. After his death in 1907 (from intestinal cancer), the artist colony gradually dissipated. Aspet remains, however, a wonderful testimony to his great work and mentoring.
Ever since last year, I have been anxious to see this pilgrimage site, as, when I had been in Washington, D.C.'s National Gallery of Art with the 8th grade trip, I had seen the magnificent Shaw Memorial. And this year's pilgrimage did not disappoint. We started out at the Visitor Center with a video concerning his life and work, and then, before the tour of the house, I went to the bookstore and purchased a biography of the great man. We toured his house, then the various locations where his work was exhibited: the Farragut Monument, the New Gallery and Atrium, the Shaw Memorial (a monument to the Civil War service of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment of African-American volunteers in Boston); the Adams Memorial (a funerary sculpture commissioned by historian Henry Adams for his wife Clover, who had committed suicide. Adams called it "The Peace of God," and St. Gaudens called it "The Mystery of the Hereafter...beyond pain and beyond joy"). We went to his flower garden, his little studio, stable and ice house, and I was especially thrilled to see the cast of the bas relief of Robert Louis Stevenson, the bronze version of which hangs as my favorite at the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth. What an incredible place it was, with an amazing view of Mt. Ascutney in the distance. Three hours passed as if they were mere minutes, and I took a ton pictures of the place.
All of a sudden it was time to go, as we had another appointment to honor later in the afternoon. Marthe had spread out the picnic on a table, and we hastily had leftovers from yesterday evening's meal. And then we were off to Manchester, NH and the Currier and Ives Museum. We were not going to the museum, per se, but to the Zimmerman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. After about a 2-hour drive, we arrived there just in time to be carted off by shuttlebus to the house itself.
Dr. Isadore and Lucille Zimmerman had the house designed by Wright in 1950. He designed not only the house, but also the interiors, furniture, gardens, and even the mailbox. In 1979 the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the owners left the property to the Currier and Ives Museum in 1988. In 1990 it was opened to the public, and it is the only Wright house in New England that can be visited by the public.
It is a wonderful, low-slung Usonian building that again, in true Wright fashion, melds inside and outside beautifully, and especially the living room and the dining room are impressive, with great collections of pottery and sculpture reflecting the interests of the owners. Especially the wonderful book shelves to the left of the front door, and the music nook with grand piano and a fine music stand with multiple lecterns were noteworthy, as was the brick wall that left interstices which were filled with colored glass lit from behind. Wright, in my opinion, spent all of his energies on those very public rooms, and the bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen had a somewhat claustrophic feel to them--almost as if they were afterthoughts in his design concept. Nevertheless, a fabulous house which was most impressive and most successfully integrated outside and inside spaces into a harmonious, iconoclastic, and striking whole. No doubt, the architect's insistence on having sole creative sway contributes to the feeling of a mostly satisfying whole one feels when contemplating that house.
After the tour, we returned to the Currier and Ives Museum, which was about to close. I quickly picked up a few things in the store--mainly Wright mementos such as an appointment calendar and a t-shirt, as well as a wonderfully designed cloth bag.
While in Manchester, we drove downtown and had dinner at Republic Cafe, which had been recommended to us by the museum staff. We munched on hummus, quinoa, cauliflower, and, for dessert, a scrumptious apple tart, then drove for about another hour back to Hamilton. Josh, who had labored manfully under a bad cold all day, let Marthe drive and fell asleep in the back, and when we arrived at Marthe's, he left immediately. Sarah, Dean, and Owen had gone to visit friends elsewhere, and will not be back until tomorrow afternoon. Marthe is extremely tired and has retired. I am sitting here writing this, and afterwards will begin to read my new book on St. Gaudens. It has been one of those red-letter days for me, and I have enjoyed every minute of today. Greetings to all! As ever, Sylvia
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