Today's post is about the work of a great sculptor, Louis St. Gaudens.
He was the younger brother of Augustus Saint Gaudens, perhaps the most famous sculptor of the 19th century. You will note the difference in spelling of their last names. According to a number of sources (including the National Park Service's website to the August Saint Gaudens House) Louis (pronounced like "Louie") changed his name to distinguish his work from his older brother. They were not competitive and appear to have gotten along throughout their lives. Louis worked on a number of Augustus' commissions and was even taught the trade early on. Augustus taught Louis how to carve cameos and this skill gave him the financial means to pursue his own education in Paris.
But Louis' work has been obscured, overlooked or miscredited to Augustus over the years. He was not as prolific as his brother. But I wonder how much of this has to do with the amount of work he did for his brother. He is certainly worthy of reconsideration.
Fortunately Washington, DC has the honor of possessing the finest works of both brothers. Augustus Saint Gaudens' great Adams Memorial (popularly known as the "Grief Statue") is located in Rock Creek Cemetery and is widely considered Saint Gaudens masterpiece. I look forward to having a post in the future about this gorgeous monument. But today we feature Louis' works:
Louis St. Gaudens' greatest works (by scale if not by merit alone) are perhaps the statues he contributed to Union Station. Each year thousands of people walk through the main hall in Union Station under the watchful gaze of the Roman centurions created by Louis St. Gaudens. Cast in concrete, these massive sentinels are the perfect adornment to Daniel Burnham's rail station. Burnham had based his designs for Union Station on classical Roman baths like the Diocletian Baths. The soaring vaulted spaces of the main hall are beautifully set by St. Gaudens' handsome soldiers.
According to Carol Highsmith & Ted Lamphair's Union Station: A Decorative History of Washington's Grand Terminal, the model for St. Gaudens' sentinels was a young student from Pomona College named Helmus Andrews. So the gaze and visage are all from the same model. Highsmith and Lamphair write that Andrews visited the Station almost fifty years later and was unimpressed by them. He said the 46 statues were "pretty crummy." Having not liked a number of photos taken of me, I can sympathize with his touchiness of the final output, but I think he was horribly wrong. The statues are stunning and serve as a perfect compliment to the hall.
A few more notes about them:
There's a pesky urban legend that the Legionnaire statues either have accurate genitalia behind their shields or had them at one point. Depending on how the story goes, the genitalia was either covered up or removed. The truth is actually a bit different. The statues, some of whom wear tunic skirts while others do not, had no genitalia. Just a (rather odd looking) bump. Think undressed Ken dolls. There was (and is) no bulge on these statues. This apparently was not enough for the prudish sensibilities at the turn of the last century. According to Highsmith and Lamphair, the board of directors asked St. Gaudens to add shields to hide the bumps "in blushing deference" to female travelers.
I'm not sure how the sculptor felt about this request but he complied.
The legionnaires were not finished in time for the opening of the railway station in 1907. In fact the 46 statues were not completed and installed until 1914 and I believe represent the final part of the original design. If you imagine the scale and number of statues involved it's quite a remarkable accomplishment.
I've decided to begin with the legionnaires as they are the better known of St. Gaudens' contribution to the station. However I think his greatest contribution from an artistic standpoint are the massive two-ton statues over the front entrance to the station.
People rarely look up and notice the detail and complexity of these six statues. Three female and three male gods representing the aspects of railroading, it is titled "The Progress of Railroading."
St. Gaudens fashioned the six statues to represent Fire, Electricity, Freedom, Imagination, Agriculture and Mechanics.
My favorite of these statues is "Thales" representing electricity. He is holding a bundle of lightning bolts in his arms and is wearing a crown of lightning bolts. It's a majestic statue and the detail (note the lacing on the sandals) is impressive. Overall the figure is attractive and winsome.
I'll try to add more photographs of the other sculptures in this set soon.
St. Gaudens did not complete these statues for the opening. From my reading in the old Washington Post archives there was a bit of an impatient uproar at the delay in the arrival of the 
sculptures. The Post even ran an editorial titled "Where are the statues" in which they chastised the traveling St. Gaudens for the missing statues. It's a hoot to read.
The statues were finally installed in 1912 much to the relief of the local populace. Given the sheer size and weight of the sculptures a special series of lifts were required to raise these collosal statues to such heights and place them properly on their bases.
Next time you visit Union Station, spend a few minutes looking at these six wonders. They are among the largest statues in the city and are deserving of admiration.
This piece was originally posted two years ago.
