雙語+MP3|美國學生藝術史56 美國最棒的雕刻家

 
沃德最棒的雕像要數《喬治·華盛頓》了。現(xiàn)在，這尊雕像豎立在紐約市國庫的分庫大樓入口處的臺階上。他看起來就像烏敦在里士滿的華盛頓雕像，不過我相信你一定會更喜歡沃德的華盛頓雕像。 
56 OUR BEST美國最棒的雕刻家
 
NOW I’m going to tell you about Saint-Gaudens. Saint Gaudens wasn’t a Christian martyr, like Saint George; Saint Gaudens didn’t preach sermons to birds, as Saint Francis did: Saint-Gaudens wasn’t one of the Apostles, like Saint John. In fact, Saint-Gaudens wasn’t a saint at all. His last name was Saint-Gaudens just as it might have been Adams or Von Hindenburg. His first name was Augustus. 
When I told you Saint-Gaudens wasn’t a saint, I didn’t mean you to think he was bad. Saint-Gaudens was a fine man, and a very fine sculptor. What a fine sculptor! 
There is one way we know he was a truly great sculptor—his work is liked by so many different kinds of people. Young people (like you), grown-ups (like me), rich people and poor people, stupid people (not like you or me) and wise people (like you and me), all praise the statues that Augustus Saint-Gaudens made. 
 
No.56-1　ADMIRAL FARRAGUT（《法拉格特海軍上將》）　　　　SAINT-GAUDENS（圣高登　制） 
Courtesy of The University Prints 
Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s first great statue was of Admiral Farragut. Admiral Farragut was an officer in the United States Navy during our Civil War. The statue which stands in Madison Square, in New York City, shows the admiral as he must have looked standing on the deck of his ship. His feet are apart to brace him to the roll of the ship on the sea. His coat is blown back by the wind. His cap is pulled tight on his head on account of the stiff sea breeze. His face is strong and he looks determined, as if he had made up his mind to win no matter what happened. 
 
No.56-2　ABRAHAM LINCOLN（亞伯拉罕·林肯》） 
SAINT-GAUDENS（圣高登　制） 
Courtesy of The University Prints 
Now look at the base or pedestal on which the statue stands. Most pedestals are just big blocks of stone to hold the statue high. But Admiral Farragut’s pedestal is really part of the statue. An architect, a man who designs buildings, helped Saint-Gaudens design the pedestal. Look at the streaks that make you think of sea water. Notice the dolphins at the ends. Notice the naval sword that carries your eye up again to the admiral. 
Notice one other thing: Admiral Farragut is in his uniform and the uniform has trousers. This is the first statue I’ve shown you that shows trousers. Sculptors made their bronze or marble men in knee breeches in George Washington’s time. When men began to wear long trousers, the sculptors had a hard time. Trousers in statues are apt to look like stovepipes or logs instead of like cloth leg coverings. Sculptors still think men’s clothes with trousers not very suitable for statues. But Saint-Gaudens didn’t let tree-trunk trousers spoil his statues. His statues are good even in trousers. 
And here’s another statue in trousers to prove it. 
Saint-Gauden’s Lincoln is one of the best-loved statues in America. It stands in Lincoln Park in the city of Chicago. A copy of it was given to Great Britain by the United States and was put up near Westminster Abbey in London. Lincoln stands before a chair of state, or a president’s chair. He looks as if he had just stood up to say something to the people before him. Lincoln’s face seems very serious. It is a face that has in it both strength and gentleness, as though Lincoln knew that millions of anxious people were depending on him to lead them and comfort them. Do you know what “dignity” and “simplicity” mean? Saint-Gaudens’s Abraham Lincoln has dignity. It has simplicity. 
The Farragut and Lincoln statues are of leaders in the Civil War. So is the next statue in this book. Saint-Gaudens was much too young at the time to be in the Civil War himself. But after the war, people wanted statues of the war heroes and Saint-Gaudens was chosen to make some of them. 
 
No.56-3　THE SHAW MEMORIAL（《肖紀念碑》）　　　　SAINT-GAUDENS（圣高登　制） 
Courtesy of The University Prints 
Our next statue is of a Civil War officer. Saint-Gaudens made a statue in memory of Colonel Shaw, who commanded the first negro regiment from Massachusetts. The statue stands in Boston, on the spot from which Colonel Shaw and his soldiers started out for the war. 
The Shaw Memorial is in relief. It shows the young colonel mounted on a horse and riding beside the marching colored men of his regiment. Above in the sky flies the Angel of Death. Saint-Gaudens put the Angel of Death there because Colonel Shaw was killed in battle with many of his soldiers, a few months after marching out of Boston. 
The sculptor worked on this relief for fourteen years. Again and again he made changes until he felt that every part of the statue was right. In fact, he was so careful to make it a good memorial that he spent more money on making it than he was paid for doing it. The marching soldiers, the slanting rifles, the spirited horse, the forward look of the rider, the drawn sword, give such swing and life to the whole statue that you can almost hear the tramp of the feet and the beat of the drums. 
Do you still remember the equestrian statue that is called the best in all the world? And the equestrian statue called the next to best in all the world? Now we come to the equestrian statue that has been called next-to-the-next-to-the-best-in-all-the-world—the third best equestrian statue. The sculptor was Saint-Gaudens. The statue is of General Sherman. General Sherman was a Northern leader in the war between the North and the South. The statue shows General Sherman riding forward behind the Angel of Victory. 
The Sherman statue is made of bronze, but it is painted with gold paint or gilt so that it isn’t the same color as other bronze statues. It stands in the Plaza in New York City and every one riding up town or down town on the top of a Fifth Avenue bus can see it close at hand. It was done by the man we call the best American sculptor of all.