Abraham Lincoln: The Man is a larger-than-life size bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. The original statue is in Lincoln Park in Chicago, and several replicas have been installed in other places around the world. Completed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1887, it has been described as the most important sculpture of Lincoln from the 19th century. At the time, the New York Evening Post 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 unveiling. The artist later created the sculpture in Chicago's Grant Park.
Design
The sculpture depicts a contemplative Lincoln rising from a chair, about to give a speech. It is set upon a pedestal and, in Chicago, an exedra designed by architect Stanford White. Chicago businessman Eli Bates 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. The monument was also a favorite of Hull House founder Jane Addams, 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 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 and North Avenue.
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, 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, New Haven: second cast – gift of Allison Armour, 1937, originally purchased by George Armour
Harvard Art Museums: third cast – purchased from Doll & Richards, Boston, by Grenville L. Winthrop, 1912
Hotchkiss School: donated by Homer Sawyer, possibly in 1939–40