LovingDC

Middle Eastern Sculpture

A nice bit of architectural sculpture with Middle-Eastern elements, south of Dupont Circle.  Love that the birds have built a nest.

Cuban-American Friendship Cup

Detail from the Cuban-American Friendship Urn, which was made from a marble column salvaged from the monument to the "Sinking of the Maine" in Havana, Cuba. The sculpture itself appears in good shape and is a great example of art-deco sculpture in the nation's capital. 

What's sad about this memorial is that it's largely forgotten and consigned to one of the worst places off the mall.  It's shamefully placed along a reserve parking lot underneath the 14th street bridge.  According to some sources it used to be in front of the Cuban Embassy but after the communist takeover of Cuba it made its way to this back corner.

There are two bronze plates on the bottom of the memorial.  Here's the original and the translation:

ESTA COPA FUE ESCULPIDA EN UN FRAGMENTO DE LA COLUMNA DE MARMOL DEL MONUMENTO A LAS VICTIMAS DEL "MAINE".  ERICIDO EN LA CIUDAD DE LA HABANA, CUYA COLUMNA FUE DERRIBADA POR EL CICLON DE 20 DE OCTOBRE DE 1926.

"This cup was sculpted from a fragment from the marble column, from the monument to the victims of the "Maine."  Built in the city of Havana, that column fell in the Hurricane of October 20, 1926."

EL RECUERDO DEL "MAINE" TENDRA ETERNA DURACION DURANTE LOS SIGLOS LOS LAZOS DE LA AMISTAD ENTRE LA TIERRA DE CUBA Y LA TIERRA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE NORTE AMERICA  - GERARDO MACHADO

"The memory of the "Maine" will last forever through the ages of the bonds of friendship between the land of Cuba and land of the United States. - (Cuban President) Gerardo Machado"

Religious Art Deco in Brookland

Architectural detail on the old Holy Names College (now Howard Divinity School) building in Brookland.  This is without doubt the most impressive religious art-deco building in the region and one of the best art deco buildings in the city.  Sadly little known since its in NE.  Should be on every art deco buff's must-see list.

Bloomingdale Keystone

A beautiful terracotta keystone over the entrance to a brownstone in Bloomingdale.  A nice composition of leaves and blossoms.

Hand of Heaven

Sculpture on limestone obelisk at Congressional Cemetery in Southeast Washington, DC.

Eckington Terracotta

Beautiful terracotta sculpture on the old Eckington School building in Northeast Washington.

Saint Sebastian at the National Gallery

Picasso's St. Sebastian at the National Gallery of Art.  A masterpiece of beauty in our city.

Bird in Tree - Dupont Circle

Beautiful carved keystone in Dupont Circle.  A lovely bird in the trees design.

Von Steuben - Albert Jaegers

The great German-American sculptor  Albert Jaegers has only one example of his work in Washington, DC.  The Baron Von Steuben memorial in Lafayette Park.

According to his obituary in the New York Times Jaegers was an accomplished sculptor whose work included statuary at the Buffalo and St. Louis World Expositions.  His most controversial work was his statue at the U.S. Customs House in New York.  He was commissioned to create a sculpture representing "Germany" for the main entrance to the Customs House.  Before the building could be completed World War I began and the powers that be requested Jaegers to change the bronze to represent America's new ally in the war "Belgium."  I'm sure the demand that his work which he'd designed and completed be defaced to represent a completely different country insulted Jaeger's cultural heritage.  He also later remarked that it was a "dubious honor for pluckly little Belgium."  Belgium was clearly a lesser-power and Jaegers didn't feel like submitting to ridiculous anti-German hysteria.

  The Von Steuben statue honors the Revolutionary War hero General Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben, a Prussian nobleman who was credited with bringing order to the rag-tag revolutionary Army.  Von Steuben's memorial, which consists of three statues on a marble base, also stands as one of the most, if not the most, homoerotic statuary in Washington, DC.  Fitting as Von Steuben had a bit of a colorful past -- he was accused of homosexuality and thrown out of the Prussian Army for his relationships with his junior officers.  This led to his traveling throughout Europe searching for employ.  Good thing for the United States that he was available as he assured the American victory over the British by bringing discipline to the troops.  It's a lavender page in our Revolutionary War history that is not known well enough.  For more information visit the Human Rights Website.

The center statue is of Von Steuben and stands 11 feet tall from spurred boots to cocked hat as the general wears the Continental uniform.  On one side is a figurative pairing re presenting "Commemoration."  America is represented as a seated nude female teaching a kneeling child the history of the country.  The most beautiful section, and haunting in ways, is the "Military Instruction" side, which features an older soldier reaching for a younger soldier's sword.  It's a beautiful piece of work.

The statues in Lafayette Park are interesting as they serve as ethnic pride statues of a sort.  Von Steuben for the Germans, Kosciusko for the Polish, Lafayette and Rochambeau for the French, etcetera.  The corner statues were all executed around the same time and according to accounts their dedications made up ENORMOUS celebrations for the ethnic communities being "honored."  Sculpture dedications were BIG DEALS back then.  President Taft gave government employees the day off and Taft's daughter Helen unveiled the statues and there were artillery salutes to the dedication.  The Washington Post wrote about how all the hotels in town were so full that they had people sleeping in the lobbies.  Crazy stuff!

The same kind of anti-German animus that dashed Jaegers Customs House statue later dogged the Von Steuben but it was more difficult to do anything about it once it was erected.

Von Steuben is remembered through this memorial and also statues in the Valley Forge and Monmouth military historical sites.  Steubenville, Ohio is also named after him.   

Louis St. Gaudens

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.