Richard Watson Gilder, Helena De Kay Gilder, and Rodman De Kay Gilder

Artist / Maker Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Irish-American, 1848 - 1907)

DesignerFrame by Stanford White (American, 1853 - 1906)

Date1879

MediumBronze, wood frame

DimensionsBas Relief: 8 1/2 × 16 3/4 × 1/4 in. (21.6 × 42.5 × 0.6 cm) Framed: 18 1/2 × 26 5/8 × 1 in. (47 × 67.6 × 2.5 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LinePurchased by University Museums with funds from the Joyce Tomlinson Brewer Fund for Art Acquisition. In the permanent collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM2020.22

Status

Not on view

Collections

Sculpture

CultureAmerican

Label TextRichard Watson Gilder (1844-1909) was an American poet and editor. Born in New Jersey, he studied law in Philadelphia and enlisted in the Philadelphia Battery during the Civil War. Afterwards he became a reporter on a newspaper in Newark, NJ and then moved to Scribner's Monthly magazine in New York - later renamed The Century Magazine -- eventually becoming its influential editor. Helena de Kay Gilder (1846-1916) was a talented painter and founder of the Art Students League (Petersen attended) and Society of American Artists. She also modeled for the painter Winslow Homer, whose love for her was unrequited. Gilder and de Kay were the inspiration for the characters Thomas and Augusta Hudson in Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Angle of Repose (1971). Dryfhout lists three known bronze reliefs (as of 1982); also two plaster models along with the mold which are located at the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site. Original period frames like this one designed by the pre-eminent American architect Stanford White (American, 1853-1906) are extremely rare. Artists such as Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Augustus Saint Gaudens and Abbot Thayer preferred the classically styled frames designed by Stanford White.

SignedSigned: Augustus Saint•Gaudens / Sculpt.

Locations