The Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award for professional achievement in art is presented annually to a graduate (or graduates) of the School of Art. Established in 1962, the award is named in honor of one of our most distinguished alumni of the school. He was admitted to The Cooper Union in 1861 at the age of 13 and was a friend of Peter Cooper’s.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Art 1866, was a leading American sculptor of the late 19th century. He is well known for his bronze historical memorials. He was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1848 and came to America as an infant. He grew up in New York City. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed to a cameo cutter and, at 14, began his studies at Cooper Union. He later studied at the National Academy of Design and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Shortly after returning from a stay in Rome in 1875, he received the commission for the Admiral Farragut monument in Madison Square, New York City which he completed in 1881. It was the first of a number of memorials relating to the Civil War. One of Saint-Gaudens’s best-known works is his memorial to General Sherman (1892-1903) in Central Park, New York City. Others are the Standing Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Park Chicago, The Seated Abraham Lincoln in Grant Park, Chicago, and the Statue of Diana that was once on top of Madison Square Garden. It is now in the Philadelphia Museum.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was successful in his own time. He was a leader in the artistic community that grew up around his estate at Cornish, New Hampshire, where he died in 1907. His house and studio have been preserved as the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. http://www.nps.gov/saga







































































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