SHERMAN FAMILY'S OWN CAST OF GENERAL SHERMAN'S PORTRAIT BUST BY AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907).

William Tecumseh Sherman.

Shellacked plaster bust.

1888, cast 1892.

Inscribed "WILLIAM TECVMSEH SHERMAN" to front plinth. 

Atelier stamp: "Copyright By / AVGUVSTVS ST. GAVDENS / M DCCC X C II" to right plinth. 

Approx. 19 1/2 x 11 x 31 in.

Provenance: The Sherman-Fitch Family (see below for more details).

A bust of one of the greatest Civil War generals, sculpted by "America's Michelangelo" Augustus Saint-Gaudens, cast for Sherman's family. 

The bust was sculpted in 1888, not long after Sherman's retirement and subsequent relocation to New York City. Saint-Gaudens was interested in the General; as his son notes in The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the bust was not a commission, but rather taken up "through his intense interest in the personalit[y] of his sitter...though my father had a deep-rooted horror of the futility of war, he always set so high a premium on virility and nervous energy that the personification of this in the General stirred his enthusiasm as few things outside his art had ever inspired it." (vol. I, 367) An introduction was made through their mutual acquaintance, Whitelaw Reid, although Sherman required convincing as he did not want "to be pestered any more with 'damned sculptors.'"

Saint-Gaudens wrote of his experiences during the sessions with General Sherman: "This task was also a labor of love, for the General had remained in my eye as the typical American soldier ever since I had formed that idea of him during the Civil War. The bust I made in about eighteen periods of two hours each. It was a memorable experience, and I regret nothing more than that I did not write down a daily record of his conversation, for he talked freely and most delightfully of the war, men and things. I can only recall the pride with which he spoke, the force of his language and the clear picture he presented as he described the appearance of his army in the great review at Washington when the final campaign was over...The General was an excellent sitter, except when I passed to his side to study the profile. Then he seemed uneasy. His eyes followed me alertly. And if I went too far around, his head turned too, very much, some one observed, as if he was watching out for his 'communications from the rear.'" (vol. I, pp. 378-379)

The admiring artist captured Sherman in his natural state, with somewhat unkempt hair, a stern expression, and an askew bowtie that Sherman declined to straighten during sittings. Sherman, too, was satisfied with the likeness. 

Saint-Gaudens did exhibit the Sherman in plaster, first in the year of its execution (1888) at the National Academy of Design in New York City, then in Philadelphia in 1892, and again in New York in 1900.  He is reported to have made bronze and marble replicas cast during his lifetime, but these evidently did not meet his satisfaction and were destroyed.  

Following Saint-Gaudens’s death in 1907, a bronze version was cast for Sherman’s daughter. In 1910, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Saint-Gaudens Memorial Committee commissioned a bronze cast, which is currently on display in Gallery 774.

Dryfhout’s catalogue of Saint-Gaudens’s work lists six examples of the Sherman in plaster. One is held by the Fogg Museum, another by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and three others by the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire.

This copy was almost certainly cast either for Sherman's eldest surviving son, Philemon T. Sherman (1867-1941), or for his eldest daughter Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1841-1913), through whose family this bust descended (see provenance information below). Another plaster cast is held at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and is noted as being "made for one of the general's daughters." (1977.27). 

After Sherman's death in 1891, his friends and members of New York City's Chamber of Commerce formed a committee and commissioned a public monument from Saint-Gaudens. It was unveiled at Grand Army Plaza in 1903. 

A seminal American portrait by one of the most important sculptors of his era. 

Note: This lot cannot be packaged and shipped in-house. Successful bidders winning items marked as being packaged and shipped by a third-party service are responsible for paying the third party directly. We are happy to offer complimentary drop-off service to local third-party packing/shipping companies in Columbus, Ohio.

References:

Dryfhout, John H., The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1982, cat. 127, p. 168; pp. 253-256.

Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Edited and Amplified Homer Saint-Gaudens. London, Andrew Melrose, 1913, vol. I, pp. 378-383; vol. ii, p. 167.

Tolles, Thayer, ed. American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Volume I, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born before 1865. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, cat. 126, pp. 293-296.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens in the Metropolitan Museum of Art , The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring, 2009, cat. 32, fig. 45, pp. 39-40. 

Provenance: The Sherman-Fitch Collection

Primarily assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), the collection of books was inherited and curated by his son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941). Before his death, Philemon transferred the library to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch (1876-1959). Eleanor was the granddaughter of General Sherman through his eldest daughter, Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1851-1913). Until now, the Sherman-Fitch library was held at the family estate in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The library includes a range of diverse material owned by General Sherman that principally relates to the Civil War, American history, and the Sherman family. Many works in the Sherman-Fitch library are historically significant, including General Sherman's annotated copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, the Sherman family bible, and Barnard's "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign."

Most examples in the collection are affixed with bookplates that bear both General Sherman's and Philemon's names. In some cases in which General Sherman's ownership was clear, his bookplate was not affixed. However, books with just Philemon's bookplate were generally acquired after his father's death in 1891. General Sherman’s bookplates were likely added by Philemon after his father’s death. Philemon’s bookplates were placed by Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (1908-1969) after he inherited the library in 1942.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Art, Military Art, Statue, Sculpture, Bust] [William Tecumseh Sherman, William T. Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, U. S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln]

Professionally restored with conservation report available upon request.