Standing Lincoln
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''Abraham Lincoln: The Man'' (also called ''Standing Lincoln'') is a larger-than-life size bronze statue of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, the 16th president of the United States. The original statue is in Lincoln Park in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and later re-castings of the statue have been given as diplomatic gifts from the United States to the United Kingdom, and to Mexico. Completed by
Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trav ...
in 1887, it has been described as the most important sculpture of Lincoln from the 19th century.Abraham Lincoln Monument
City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division (2003). Retrieved on May 8, 2007
At the time, the ''
New York Evening Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established i ...
'' called it "the most important achievement American sculpture has yet produced." Abraham Lincoln II, Lincoln's only grandson, was present, among a crowd of 10,000, at the initial unveiling.Andrew Ferguson. ''Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America''. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007. 71–72 The artist later created the '' Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State'' ('Seated Lincoln') sculpture in Chicago's Grant Park.


Design

The sculpture depicts a contemplative Lincoln rising from a chair of state, about to give a speech. It is set upon a
pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
and, in Chicago, an
exedra An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...
designed by architect
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...
. White's setting includes carved and bronze caste excerpts of Lincoln's writings. Chicago businessman Eli Bates (1806–1881) provided $40,000 in his will for the statue. Saint-Gaudens was specially selected for the commission after a design competition failed to produce a winning artist. Saint-Gaudens, who revered the President, had seen Lincoln at the time of his inauguration, and later viewed Lincoln's body lying in state. For his design, the artist also relied on a life mask and hand casts made of Lincoln in 1860 by Leonard W. Volk. While planning and working on the ''Standing Lincoln'', Saint-Gaudens was first enticed to what would become his home and studio, and an associated artist's colony. To convince him to vacation near Cornish, New Hampshire, a friend told him the area had "many Lincoln-shaped men".


Reception and legacy

The sculpture's naturalism influenced a generation of artists. One sculptor ''Standing Lincoln'' significantly influenced was Daniel Chester French, who would go on to create the Lincoln statute at the Lincoln Memorial in 1920. The monument was also a favorite of
Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House (named after the original house's first owner Cha ...
founder
Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...
, who once wrote, "I walked the wearisome way from Hull-House to Lincoln Park ... in order to look at and gain magnanimous counsel from the statue." Journalist
Andrew Ferguson Andrew Ferguson (born June 28, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Career Ferguson is currently a staff writer at ''The Atlantic''. Previously, he was senior editor of ''The Weekly Standard'' (defunct since December 2018), and a columni ...
discusses the statue at length in his book ''Land of Lincoln'', writing that the statue presents "a sort of world-weariness that seems almost kind". The City of Chicago awarded the monument landmark status on December 12, 2001. It is located near the
Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the int ...
and North Avenue.


Replicas

Replicas of the statue stand at
Lincoln Tomb The Lincoln Tomb is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States; his wife Mary Todd Lincoln; and three of their four sons: Edward, William, and Thomas. It is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfiel ...
in Springfield, Illinois,
Parque Lincoln Parque Lincoln, or Lincoln Park, is a city park in Mexico City, Mexico. The park is located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City (''México, D. F.''). There is a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. installed in the park, as well as a copy ...
in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
, and
Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.National Archives – United Kingdom, Statue of Abraham Lincoln.
/ref> The Parliament Square statue was given to Britain in July 1920. The American Ambassador made a formal presentation at Central Hall, Westminster, where Prime Minister
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
accepted the gift on behalf of the people of Britain; after a procession to Parliament Square, the statue was unveiled by
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 185016 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Go ...
. The Mexico City statue was presented by United States President Lyndon Johnson to the people of Mexico in 1964. Later, Johnson received a small copy of the
bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...
from the statue, which since then is often seen displayed in the Oval Office of the White House. In 2016, a newly cast replica of the full-height statue was installed in the garden at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish.Curtis, Jack
"Column: Saint-Gaudens’ Deeply Human Lincoln"
''Valley News'', July 1, 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-14.


Reductions

From 1910 onwards, Saint-Gaudens' widow, Augusta, oversaw the casting of a number of smaller replicas of the statue, reduced to slightly under one-third the size of the original. *
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York: first cast – sold to Clara Stone Hay, 1911, previously on display in Washington. The sculpture belonged to the family of Lincoln's White House aide John Hay. *
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
, New Haven: second cast – gift of Allison Armour, 1937, originally purchased by George Armour *
Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
: third cast – purchased from Doll & Richards, Boston, by Grenville L. Winthrop, 1912 * Hotchkiss School: donated by Homer Sawyer, possibly in 1939–40 *
Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...
, Pittsburgh: gift of Charles Rosenbloom, 1943 * Chazy School District, New York: purchased 1923 by William H. Miner *
Detroit Institute of Art The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project complete ...
: donated by Mrs Walter O. Briggs, 1952 * Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills: cast in 1940 by Gorham * Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan: gift of the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
* Carnegie Library, Jackson District Library, Jackson, Michigan: gift, 1915 *
Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU's campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. As of fall 2019, it had 1,975 undergraduate and 2,892 graduate and professional students. LMU ...
Library, Harrogate, Tennessee: donated by Sarah Lynn in memory of her husband, John Lynn, in 1938 *
Lincoln Tomb The Lincoln Tomb is the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States; his wife Mary Todd Lincoln; and three of their four sons: Edward, William, and Thomas. It is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfiel ...
, Springfield, Illinois *
Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...
, Newark, New Jersey: gift of Franklin Murphy, 1920 * Saint-Gaudens Memorial, Cornish, New Hampshire: donated by Augusta Saint-Gaudens, 1919 *
Fay School Fay School is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school, located on a campus some from Boston in Southborough, Massachusetts. Fay opened its Primary School (pre-K to grade two) in 2010 and moved its 6th grade into the Lower School p ...
,
Southborough, Massachusetts Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps, though ...
* Abraham Lincoln School of Languages,
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
, Cuba


See also

*
List of public art in Chicago The city of Chicago, Illinois, is home to many notable works of public art on permanent display in an outdoor public space. References External links * {{Public art in the United States Art, Public Chicag ...
* List of public art in Mexico City * List of statues of Abraham Lincoln *
List of sculptures of presidents of the United States This is a list of statues and busts of presidents of the United States. George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson James Madison James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Har ...


Notes


References


External links


''Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Master Sculptor''
exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on this statue {{Public art in Mexico City 1887 sculptures Bronze sculptures in the City of Westminster Bronze sculptures in Illinois Chicago Landmarks Monuments and memorials in London Monuments and memorials in Mexico City Outdoor sculptures in Chicago Outdoor sculptures in London Outdoor sculptures in Mexico City Parliament Square Sculptures by Augustus Saint-Gaudens Statues in Illinois Statues in London Statues in Mexico City Statues of Abraham Lincoln Monuments and memorials to Abraham Lincoln Buildings and monuments honouring American presidents in the United Kingdom Monuments and memorials to Abraham Lincoln in the United States Polanco, Mexico City