Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Back to the States

"Adoration of the Cross of Angels"
by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

"At last, when my marbles were finished, I went back to America. I took a studio on the corner of Fourteenth Street and Fourth Avenue in New York, which still stands as I write. The first floor was occupied by the bank, the third contained rooms rented out to Odd Fellows Lodges for occasional meetings in the evening. There were but three floors and no elevator. I was the first tenant on the second floor. It became sad business going up an iron staircase alone, and walking across the big corridor to my room, my lonely steps echoing through the hall. I would turn on the water at the little wash basin, let it run continuously with a gentle tinkle, and thus recall the sound of the fountain in the garden at Rome.

Here were brought to me a couple of redheads who have been thoroughly mixed up in my life ever since. I speak of Stanford White and Charles F. McKim. White, who was studying with Richardson, had much to do with the designing of Trinity Church in Boston. He was drawn to me one day, as he ascended the German Savings Bank stairs, by hearing me bawl the 'Andante' of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, and 'The Serenade' from Mozart's 'Don Giovanni.' He was a great lover of music. McKim I met later on. A devouring love for ice cream brought us together.

One direct result of the various kinds of sculpture I executed at that time led to my association with Mr. John La Farge in the execution of the 'King' monument to go in the cemetery at Newport, Rhode Island. Part of the work I modeled in his studio in that town. It was absolutely his design, and possessed that singular grace, elevation, nobility, and distinction which is characteristic of what ever he has touched. I was the tool that modeled for him then, as I was subsequently in the painting I did for him as an assistant in his decoration of Trinity Church in Boston. Those again were great days, for he had with him at that time Mr. Francis Lathrop, Mr. Frank Millet, and Mr. George Maynard."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens" by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his son, Homer Saint-Gaudens.)