Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State
(also called
Seated Lincoln
or
Sitting Lincoln
) is a 9-foot (2.7 m) tall
[1]
bronze
statue of
Abraham Lincoln
in
Grant Park
, in
Chicago
. Created by
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
and completed by his workshop in 1908, it was intended by the artist to evoke the loneliness and burden of command felt by Lincoln during his presidency.
[2]
[3]
[4]
The sculpture depicts a contemplative Lincoln seated in a chair, and gazing down into the distance. The sculpture is set upon a
pedestal
and a 150-foot (46 m) wide
exedra
designed by architect
Stanford White
.
[5]
Although not as well known as Saint-Gaudens'
Standing Lincoln
(in
Lincoln Park
), it does demonstrate the years of attention that the sculptor gave to capturing Lincoln in a most somber light. Prior to being installed in Grant Park in 1926, the sculpture was displayed at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City and at the
San Francisco World's Fair
in 1915. The section of Grant Park, where this statue of Lincoln is located, was designated as the
Court of Presidents
in the plan for the park but, to date, this is the only such monument that has been erected.
History
[
edit
]
In his will, the industrialist
John Crerar
bequeathed funds for the creation and maintenance of a free public library in Chicago to be called the
John Crerar Library
. He also bequeathed $100,000 (roughly equivalent to $3,391,111.1 today) to his executors, Norman Williams and Huntington W Jackson, for the erection of a "colossal statue of Abraham Lincoln" at a location of their choosing.
[6]
Crerar died in 1889, and in 1897 Saint-Gaudens was commissioned to sculpt the statue.
[7]
In 1901 the Chicago city council approved an act for the construction of the John Crerar Library in Grant Park on a site bounded by
Michigan Avenue
, the Illinois Central railroad tracks, Monroe Avenue and
Madison Street
(the site of the
Crown Fountain
today). The act also allowed the trustees of the money bequeathed by Crerar to construct a statue of Lincoln to place the statue within the grounds of the library.
[8]
A fire at Saint-Gaudens studio in 1904 destroyed all of his drawings and models for the sculpture, however Saint-Gaudens was able to complete design work and begin casting before his death in 1907.
[9]
Plans to build in Grant Park were opposed by
Aaron Montgomery Ward
, who in 1910 won a court battle to prevent the Crerar Library and the
Field Museum of Natural History
from being constructed in the park. The library was instead constructed at the northwest corner of
Randolph Street
and Michigan Avenue.
[10]
Subsequent plans for the development Grant Park called for the statue to be located on reclaimed land between Van Buren Street and
Congress Parkway
, but delays in the construction of the park led to the statue being stored, first at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (from 1908 to 1913) and then in a building in
Washington Park
.
[10]
In 1924 it was announced that the South Park Commissioners had approved a location for the statue 225 feet (69 m) east of the Illinois Central railroad tracks and north of Van Buren Street,
[11]
[12]
and the statue was unveiled on May 31, 1926.
[13]
The statue's head was used for the
commemorative postage stamp
issued on the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's birth in 1909.
[14]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Guadens'
Abraham Lincoln
SIRUS Art Inventory Simthsonian
- ^
"Seated Lincoln (in Grant Park)"
.
Explore Chicago
. City of Chicago. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-18
. Retrieved
2011-01-15
.
- ^
"Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State"
. Chicago Park District. 2010
. Retrieved
January 31,
2013
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"The Chicago Public Art Guide"
(PDF)
. City of Chicago - Department of Cultural Affairs. May 2007. p. 22
. Retrieved
February 1,
2013
.
- ^
"Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State ("Seated Lincoln"), 1897-1906"
.
The Saint-Gaudens Memorial
. Friends of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial. Archived from
the original
on 2011-06-06
. Retrieved
2011-01-15
.
- ^
Crerar, John (1922).
The will of John Crerar, dated August 5, 1886, admitted to probate November 14, 1889
. p.
10
. Retrieved
2013-01-05
.
- ^
"Favors the Crerar Plan".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. March 19, 1901.
- ^
Andrews, Clement Walker.
The John Crerar Library: 1894?1905
. p. 46.
- ^
"St. Gaudens' Tasks Almost Completed Before Death".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. August 26, 1907.
- ^
a
b
"Lincoln Statue Stored for Years".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. March 6, 1914.
- ^
"Grant Park Site Picked for Statue of Lincoln".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. November 8, 1924.
- ^
"Lincoln Statue at Last to be Shown Public".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. April 19, 1925.
- ^
"Unveil Statue of Lincoln, Given to City by Crerar".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. June 1, 1926.
- ^
US 1909.com Saint-Gaudens
Archived
July 17, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
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Key
: † No longer extant or on public display
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