Other than that portion of the Appalachian Trail which runs through the state, New Hampshire’s only national park site is the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Located in Cornish, just across the Connecticut River from Windsor, Vermont, the site comprises the home, studio and gardens of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, probably the preeminent American sculptor of the late 19th century. Thanks to the presence of Saint-Gaudens, a summer art colony flourished in the Cornish area from the 1890′s until after the end of World War I, attracting many famous artists and sculptors as well as literary icons and politicians, including the odd President. (Wilson was very odd.)
Our visit was somewhat hampered by on-and-off rain, wind, and the chill factor. Other than the small gift shop, the indoor spaces felt unheated. Touring the house was not offered as an option, possibly because of a group of elementary school students on a field trip. Listening to kids individually react to the sculptures and overhearing a couple of docent-led discussions with the group was the best part.
(Photos of some of Saint-Gauden’s work on display below the fold)
Theodore Roosevelt asked Saint-Gaudens to re-design American coins for the new century. His double-eagle ($20) gold coin is widely considered the most beautiful American coin ever produced. Only Saint-Gauden’s gold-piece designs were ultimately minted.
The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial was especially moving. The original work, located on the edge of Boston Commons, took 13 years to complete. A number of the studies used to create the piece were on display in the studio. (Click on link for excellent close-ups of the work, at bottom of that page)
Shaw, who led the the otherwise all-black Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, was killed during a failed Union effort to take Ft. Wagner in South Carolina. While it was customary at that time to return the remains of officers killed in action, the Confederates threw Shaw’s stripped and robbed body into a mass grave, and then piled dead black soldiers on top of it. They intended it as an insult. Instead, his family considered it an honor:
We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers….We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company – what a body-guard he has!
The 1989 film Glory was based on the story of the 54th Regiment.
The Farragut Memorial, erected in New York’s Madison Square Park in 1881, was the first major commission for Saint-Gaudens. “[I]ts naturalism, its lack of bombast and its siting combined to make it a tremendous success, and Saint-Gaudens’ reputation was established.”
Author Henry Adams (grandson of John Quincy Adams) commissioned this memorial after his wife, Marian Hooper Adams, committed suicide at age 42. It was erected over her grave in Rock Creek Cemetary in Washington, D.C. in 1891. Adams himself was later buried here as well.
Studio Courtyard
Studio
