Louis Saint-Gaudens (January 1, 1854 – March 8, 1913) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation. He was the brother of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens; Louis later changed the spelling of his name to St. Gaudens to differentiate himself from his well-known brother.
Early life and education
Saint-Gaudens was born in New York City to a French-born father, Bernard Paul Ernest Saint-Gaudens, and an Irish-born mother, Mary McGuiness, Louis received his early training as a cameo cutter from his brother, who later assisted him in beginning his art studies in Rome. In 1878, he and his brother Augustus moved to Paris where they shared a studio and attended the École des Beaux-Arts from 1879 to 1880.
Career
In 1898, he returned to the United States, where he settled in Flint, Ohio, and met his future wife, sculptor Annetta Johnson. Their son, Paul Saint-Gaudens, was a master potter who became known for his Orchard Kiln Pottery Works.
In 1900, the family relocated to Cornish, New Hampshire, a mile away from Louis's brother's studio.[1]
Louis Saint-Gaudens died of pneumonia, aged 59, in Cornish, New Hampshire. His home and studio in Cornish, New Hampshire, a former Shaker Meetinghouse, were on the National Register of Historic Places until they were destroyed by fire in 1980.[2]
"Art In American Churches", New York Times, January 20, 1895
"Art Notes", New York Times, December 21, 1884
"Louis St. Gaudens Dead", New York Times, March 13, 1913
"Uncle Sam's Medal Factory", Washington Post, June 13, 1909
Armstrong, Craven, et al., 200 Years of American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of Art, NYC, 1976
Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y. Crowell Co, NY, NY 1968
Goode, James M., The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, DC, Smithsonian Press, Washington, DC, 1974
Johnson, Louis, Early History of the Home & Studios of Louis and Annette St. Gaudens Published by John H. Dryfhout, Cornish, NH
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Edited and Amplified by Homer Saint-Gaudens, Published By The Century Co. New York, MCMXIII
Taft, Lorado, The History of American Sculpture, MacMillan Co., New York, NY 1925
Wilkinson, Burke, and David Finn, photographs, Uncommon Clay: The Life and Works of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, San Diego 1985
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Master Sculptor, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Louis Saint-Gaudens
"Columbus taking possession of the New World" sculpture by Louis Saint-Gaudens and Mary Lawrence Tonetti at the east portal of the Administration Building - World's Columbian Exposition 1893 in Chicago, Ill.