Statue of Painting - St. Louis Art Museum, Forest Park - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 38.373 W 090° 17.655
15S E 735499 N 4280251
This statue called "Statue of Painting" is to the your left (East Side) as you enter the Art Museum
Waymark Code: WMQ8JW
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 01/10/2016
Views: 4
County of statue: Independent City of St. Louis
Location of art: Fine Arts Dr., St. Louis Art Museum entrance, Forest Park, St. Louis
Artist: Louis Saint-Gaudens, 1854-1913, sculptor
Date Created: 1904
Proper Description: "Seated female figure clothed from the waist down. She holds a palette in her proper left hand and a paint brush in her right. Her head is turned to the left and her expression is severe. She is seated in a throne like chair with a small tree growing in full leaf to her proper left." ~ Smithsonian American Art Museum
"Although similar in style, the two allegorical statues that flank the main entrance to the Saint Louis Art Museum are by two different artists. Painting (this page), on the east side, is the work of Louis Saint-Gaudens; Sculpture, on the west side, is by Daniel Chester French. Both figures were created for the 1904 World’s Fair to stand in front of the Palace of Fine Arts, now the Art Museum.
"The Palace of Fine Arts, designed by Cass Gilbert, was one of the few permanent structures built for the Fair. Most of the buildings and statues at the Fair were constructed from “staff,” a mixture of plaster of Paris, cement and hemp fibers — durable enough to last the length of the Fair, but not intended for permanent display. The originals of these two sculptures were made of staff, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company commissioned the artists to create marble copies after the Fair.
"Louis Saint-Gaudens was the lesser known brother of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, but a fine artist in his own right. He is best known as the sculptor of all the statues in Union Station in Washington D.C. He died in 1912, and his wife, Annette Johnson Saint-Gaudens, completed the marble copy.
"Daniel Chester French was one of the most acclaimed and prolific sculptors of his time and in the circle of such literary luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Alcotts of Concord, Massachusetts. His most famous work is the iconic figure of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. He also designed the medal awarded to recipients of the Pulitzer Prize." ~ Forest Park Forever