My only Saint Gaudens...
techeff
Posts: 2,285
...is silver. One of these days I'll get a gold one.
This medal is one of about 100 that my father left me. They were distributed during the early 1960's to mid 1970's. Each medal is pure silver and about 1 3/4" in diameter. Here is the descrption that came with this medal:
AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS (1848 - 1907)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor, was born in Dublin, Ireland, March 1, 1848 the youngest of the many children of a French shoemaker, Bernard Ernest, who had married an Irish girl after emigrating from the vicinity of Saint-Gaudens in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The family moved to America the same year. At the age of 13, Augustus was apprenticed to a cameo-cutter. He studied drawing at night school at Cooper Union, and later studied at the National Academy of Design. In 1867, he went to Paris to see the Exposition and to attend the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He supported himself by cameo-cutting. At the beginning of the French-Prussian War, he moved to Rome to study and work and remained five years. There he made friends and established himself as an artist of immense skill and originality; a long series of bas-relief portraits revealing his mastery of delicate line and sensitive modeling. He became a leader among the artists revolting from the stiff academicism of the time.
Returning to America, commissions flowed in. His Admiral Farragut for Madison Square in New York won him international recognition and he was able to marry Augusta Homer of Roxbury, Massachusetts, whom he had met in Rome. They returned to Paris to work, but came back to America after about five years. He had more commissions than he could handle. Among his great works created at this period were the "Puritan" and "Standing Lincoln." He taught at the Art Students League from 1888 to 1897; established a summer home which became the nucleolus of an artist's colony at Cornish, N. H.; he became publicly active working on behalf of the American Academy in Rome; he was advisor to the Columbian Exposition in 1893; he work tirelessly on preservation and development of the Nation's Capital.
Meanwhile his prestigious outpouring of masterworks continued. These included the "Amor Caritas" for the Luxembourg Museum, Paris; a "Diana" to Stamford White's Madison Square Garden; portrait of Robert L. Stevenson and a memorial to him for Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh; a bust, and later, the famed equestrian statue of General Sherman, standing at Fifth Avenue near Central Park in New York; the Shaw Memorial in Boston and the lovely, haunting, draped figure for the Adams Memorial at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. as well as the "Seated Lincoln" for Chicago's Lincoln Park. In Paris in 1900 to receive the Grand Prix of the Salon for his Sherman statue, it was found Saint-Gaudens was suffering from cancer. He returned to Cornish where he remained the last seven years of his life. He established a permanent a permanent studio, took many students and assistants, and continued his outpouring of work. As a diversion, he often posed his friends for medallions and plaques. He completed the Stevenson Memorial, modeled a bust for John Hay, a statue of Charles Parnall for Dublin; turned his talent to design of coins at the request of his friend Theodore Roosevelt, and re-designed the $10 and $20 gold pieces which have become collectors items. A disastrous fire destroyed his studio in Cornish, but he re-built it and continued work.
After his death August 3, 1907, his widow and son gave the property to the State and it remained a Memorial. In 1964, the property was deeded to the Nation and is maintained by the National Park Service as a National Historic Shrine.
THE SCULPTOR:
Stanley Martineau, sculptor of the Augustus Saint-Gaudens medal for this distinguished series, also created both the bust and medal honoring Alexander Graham Bell and the bust and medal honoring Josiah W. Gibbs, for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. A close associate of the famous American sculptors Frederick Mac Monnies, George Barard and James Earle Fraser. Among his works are President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, modeled from life at the White House. Portrait of President Truman was also modeled from life as were busts of Myron C. Taylor, W.K. Vanderbilt, Nicholas Murray Butler, and many others. His figure sculptures included a 17 figure group at the University Armory, Montreal.
He received the twenty-seventh award of the Saltus Medal for distinguished achievement in the field of the art of the medal and is a Life Fellow of the American Numismatic Society.
ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE MEDAL
Within the reverse of the "Saint-Gaudens" medal, the sculptor, therein, probes into the inscrutability of the long death from which man is allowed so brief an escape. Deep unconscious angers of the human spirit inflame the imagination here into challenging the supremacy of passionless time. As with the "Great Sphinx" which erupted into existence of that far away interval, sculptured cliffs of defiance have emerged over the centuries. Against the night of the cold obliviousness of the universe have flared these illuminations forged in the fiery imaginations intrinsic to all great artists, as though with the unpredictability of some terrifying "Vesuvian" splendor. -- Stanley Martineau
THE BUST
By James Earle Fraser, the bust was a gift of the National Sculpture Society; unveiled May 12, 1926 by his grandchildren Augustus and Carlota Saint-Gaudens.
THE DISTRIBUTOR
The Coin and Currency Institute, Inc., 393 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, was appointed by Medallic Art Company, and the Hall of Fame as sole distributor of this medal series. They are one of the world's most respected and distinguished numismatic organizations. Official commemorative medals this company has distributed include the Alaska and Hawaii Statehood medals; the Civil War Centennial Medal; Inaugural medals for President Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
THE ART COMMITTEE
Composed of the eminent American sculptors and medalists, Chairman Donald DeLue and Members Stanley Martineau, Michael Lantz and C. Paul Jennewein, the Art Committee aids the Director in choosing the appropriate sculptors, and approval of models for the bronze busts which are placed in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. They perform these same functions in the selection of sculptor-medalists and approval of sketches and models for the official medal series being issued.
THE MANUFACTURER
Medallic Art Company has become the leading American firm producing bas-relief medallions from sculptors' original models. Having introduced the art to this country, their galleries provide a living history of medallic art--sculpture in the miniature. They have been selected to produce the most distinguished medals of award and commemorative for the country's leading business and organization community. They work intimately with sculptors, drawing upon talent of every style throughout the nation. Since 1900 they have, indeed, produced medallic art in every creative form.
This medal is one of about 100 that my father left me. They were distributed during the early 1960's to mid 1970's. Each medal is pure silver and about 1 3/4" in diameter. Here is the descrption that came with this medal:
AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS (1848 - 1907)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor, was born in Dublin, Ireland, March 1, 1848 the youngest of the many children of a French shoemaker, Bernard Ernest, who had married an Irish girl after emigrating from the vicinity of Saint-Gaudens in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The family moved to America the same year. At the age of 13, Augustus was apprenticed to a cameo-cutter. He studied drawing at night school at Cooper Union, and later studied at the National Academy of Design. In 1867, he went to Paris to see the Exposition and to attend the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He supported himself by cameo-cutting. At the beginning of the French-Prussian War, he moved to Rome to study and work and remained five years. There he made friends and established himself as an artist of immense skill and originality; a long series of bas-relief portraits revealing his mastery of delicate line and sensitive modeling. He became a leader among the artists revolting from the stiff academicism of the time.
Returning to America, commissions flowed in. His Admiral Farragut for Madison Square in New York won him international recognition and he was able to marry Augusta Homer of Roxbury, Massachusetts, whom he had met in Rome. They returned to Paris to work, but came back to America after about five years. He had more commissions than he could handle. Among his great works created at this period were the "Puritan" and "Standing Lincoln." He taught at the Art Students League from 1888 to 1897; established a summer home which became the nucleolus of an artist's colony at Cornish, N. H.; he became publicly active working on behalf of the American Academy in Rome; he was advisor to the Columbian Exposition in 1893; he work tirelessly on preservation and development of the Nation's Capital.
Meanwhile his prestigious outpouring of masterworks continued. These included the "Amor Caritas" for the Luxembourg Museum, Paris; a "Diana" to Stamford White's Madison Square Garden; portrait of Robert L. Stevenson and a memorial to him for Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh; a bust, and later, the famed equestrian statue of General Sherman, standing at Fifth Avenue near Central Park in New York; the Shaw Memorial in Boston and the lovely, haunting, draped figure for the Adams Memorial at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. as well as the "Seated Lincoln" for Chicago's Lincoln Park. In Paris in 1900 to receive the Grand Prix of the Salon for his Sherman statue, it was found Saint-Gaudens was suffering from cancer. He returned to Cornish where he remained the last seven years of his life. He established a permanent a permanent studio, took many students and assistants, and continued his outpouring of work. As a diversion, he often posed his friends for medallions and plaques. He completed the Stevenson Memorial, modeled a bust for John Hay, a statue of Charles Parnall for Dublin; turned his talent to design of coins at the request of his friend Theodore Roosevelt, and re-designed the $10 and $20 gold pieces which have become collectors items. A disastrous fire destroyed his studio in Cornish, but he re-built it and continued work.
After his death August 3, 1907, his widow and son gave the property to the State and it remained a Memorial. In 1964, the property was deeded to the Nation and is maintained by the National Park Service as a National Historic Shrine.
THE SCULPTOR:
Stanley Martineau, sculptor of the Augustus Saint-Gaudens medal for this distinguished series, also created both the bust and medal honoring Alexander Graham Bell and the bust and medal honoring Josiah W. Gibbs, for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. A close associate of the famous American sculptors Frederick Mac Monnies, George Barard and James Earle Fraser. Among his works are President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, modeled from life at the White House. Portrait of President Truman was also modeled from life as were busts of Myron C. Taylor, W.K. Vanderbilt, Nicholas Murray Butler, and many others. His figure sculptures included a 17 figure group at the University Armory, Montreal.
He received the twenty-seventh award of the Saltus Medal for distinguished achievement in the field of the art of the medal and is a Life Fellow of the American Numismatic Society.
ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE MEDAL
Within the reverse of the "Saint-Gaudens" medal, the sculptor, therein, probes into the inscrutability of the long death from which man is allowed so brief an escape. Deep unconscious angers of the human spirit inflame the imagination here into challenging the supremacy of passionless time. As with the "Great Sphinx" which erupted into existence of that far away interval, sculptured cliffs of defiance have emerged over the centuries. Against the night of the cold obliviousness of the universe have flared these illuminations forged in the fiery imaginations intrinsic to all great artists, as though with the unpredictability of some terrifying "Vesuvian" splendor. -- Stanley Martineau
THE BUST
By James Earle Fraser, the bust was a gift of the National Sculpture Society; unveiled May 12, 1926 by his grandchildren Augustus and Carlota Saint-Gaudens.
THE DISTRIBUTOR
The Coin and Currency Institute, Inc., 393 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, was appointed by Medallic Art Company, and the Hall of Fame as sole distributor of this medal series. They are one of the world's most respected and distinguished numismatic organizations. Official commemorative medals this company has distributed include the Alaska and Hawaii Statehood medals; the Civil War Centennial Medal; Inaugural medals for President Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
THE ART COMMITTEE
Composed of the eminent American sculptors and medalists, Chairman Donald DeLue and Members Stanley Martineau, Michael Lantz and C. Paul Jennewein, the Art Committee aids the Director in choosing the appropriate sculptors, and approval of models for the bronze busts which are placed in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. They perform these same functions in the selection of sculptor-medalists and approval of sketches and models for the official medal series being issued.
THE MANUFACTURER
Medallic Art Company has become the leading American firm producing bas-relief medallions from sculptors' original models. Having introduced the art to this country, their galleries provide a living history of medallic art--sculpture in the miniature. They have been selected to produce the most distinguished medals of award and commemorative for the country's leading business and organization community. They work intimately with sculptors, drawing upon talent of every style throughout the nation. Since 1900 they have, indeed, produced medallic art in every creative form.
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Comments
i wasnt expecting that face!
it is cool.....and I'm with Frank. what the history/story of this?
Tom
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He looks evil!
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