Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Who was Augustus Saint-Gaudens?

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance". Raised in New York City, he traveled to Europe for further training and artistic study, and then returned to New York, where he achieved major critical success for his monuments commemorating heroes of the American Civil War, many of which still stand. In addition to his famous works such as the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Boston Common and the outstanding grand equestrian monuments to Civil War generals John A. Logan, atop a pedestal done by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White, assisted by the Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham in Chicago, 1894–97, and William Tecumseh Sherman, at the corner of New York's Central Park, 1892–1903, Saint-Gaudens also maintained an interest in numismatics and designed the $20 "double eagle" gold piece, for the US Mint in 1905–1907, considered one of the most beautiful American coins ever issued as well as the $10 "Indian Head" gold eagle, both of which were minted from 1907 until 1933. In his later years he founded the "Cornish Colony", an artistic colony that included notable painters, sculptors, writers, and architects. His brother Louis Saint-Gaudens was also a well-known sculptor with whom he occasionally collaborated.