Thomas Hart Benton - Lafayette Park - St. Louis, MO - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

County of statue: St. Louis Independent City
Location of statue: Lafayette Ave., Lafayette Park - Lafayette Square neighborhood, St. Louis
Artist: Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, 1830-1908, sculptor
Founder: Royal Foundry

Statue Text:
(Proper left bronze base): FERD. v. MILLER fudit MUNCHEN 1864

(Proper left Bronze base): HARRIET HOSMER SCULPT. ROME MDCCCLX

(Front of granite base, center):

THERE IS THE EAST
THERE IS INDIA. (Rear of Granite Base, center: BENTON. (Top of step base, plaque): SENATOR
THOMAS HART BENTON
1782 ~ 1858
Sculpture in Bronze
by
Harriet Hosmer 1830 ~ 1908
Dedicated in 1868

(Plaque proper left of display pad upon which base rests):
Senator Thomas Hart Benton, 1782-1858

Sculpture in bronze by
Harriet Hosmer 1830-1908.
America's First Professional Female Sculptor
Sculpture dedicated in 1868

Harriet Hosmer began her sculpture studies in St. Louis and was the first woman to get a diploma in Anatomy in 1851 from the Missouri Medical College, forerunner of the Washington University School of Medicine. The study of anatomy was important to sculptors of the human form and when she was denied entry into medical schools in the East because of her gender. St. Louis friends helped he bypass these restrictions. While working in Rome, she was commissioned by the State of Missouri to sculpt Missouri's fist public monument. The first United States Senator from Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton, a great champion of westward expansion.

Plaques gift of Richard and Elizabeth Hosmer Kramer, June 2002.

Proper Description: "Colossal figure of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton wearing a Classical toga and holding a partially unrolled scroll of a map of North America. Beneath the toga Benton is wearing a contemporary jacket and scarf. The base is square shaft with three granite steps mounted on a marble plinth." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum

Remarks: "This sculpture, the first public sculpture erected in Missouri, was funded by the state of Missouri, private contributions, and the Lafayette Park Commission, for a total cost of $36,000
Benton served in the United States Senate from the beginning of Missouri's existence in 1820 until 1850. The base inscription "There is the East, there is India," is a quote from a speech Benton made, advocating a transcontinental railroad route through St. Louis." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum.

TITLE: Thomas Hart Benton ARTIST(S): Harriet Goodhue Hosmer DATE: Commissioned 1860. Modeled ca. 1861. Cast 1864. Dedicated May 27, 1868 MEDIUM: Figure: painted bronze; Base: Quincy granite and marble CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 76000966 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Lafayette Ave., Lafayette Park, Lafayette Square Neighborhood St. Louis, MO DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: Neither plaque text is provided in listing.

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