Day Tripping: Famed sculptor’s home a great summer destination

CORNISH, N.H. >> A bigger-than-life-sized statue of Abraham Lincoln is making its way to the only National Park Service site in New Hampshire.

With next year's presidential primary coming up, don't be surprised if front-runners from both parties attend the Sept. 26 gathering.

A 12-foot bronze, "Standing Lincoln," is one of the many pieces that launched Augustus Saint-Gaudens' career as America's pre-eminent sculptor of the late 19th century.

"Saint-Gaudens was greatly influenced by Lincoln," said Ray Auger, a ranger at the artist's home, Aspet, in Cornish, N.H. "He heard Lincoln speak at Cooper Union in New York during the 1860 presidential campaign. And when Lincoln's body was brought to New York following his assassination, Saint-Gaudens went through the long line twice to see the president lying in state."

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The original statue is found in Lincoln Park, Chicago. A new bronze casting will be unveiled at Aspet to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's passing, and the 50th anniversary of Aspet as a National Historic Site. Saint-Gaudens named the brick Greek Revival house, built as a country inn around 1800, and the picturesque landscape around it for his father's birthplace in France.

The artist purchased the site as a summer retreat in the 1880s and spent his final years there on a year-round basis. Its spacious grounds with sculpture gardens, tall hedges and expansive lawns provide panoramic views of Ascutney Mountain, directly across the Connecticut River in Vermont. At more than 3,100 feet high, it is the tallest "monadnock" – isolated mountain – east of the Mississippi River.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Saint-Gaudens came to New York with his parents at a young age. Following an apprenticeship making cameos, he went back to Europe to study art in France and Rome, which greatly influenced his later works depicting Lincoln and Union heroes of the Civil War.

Saint-Gaudens' first major work, a sculpture of Admiral David Farragut – who proclaimed, "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!" – was done to convince his bride-to-be's father that he was capable of supporting a wife. The statue stands in New York's Madison Square Park.

Saint-Gaudens also did an immense bronze, in Boston, of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry, an African-American outfit led by Col. Robert Shaw, a white officer who was killed during the assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C. The film version of the 54th's story was the subject of the movie "Glory" starring Matthew Broderick as Shaw.

Soon, "Standing Lincoln" will join the replica castings of Farragut, the 54th Infantry and many other famous statues found at Aspet.

"The 'Standing Lincoln' is in many ways the reason we have a National Park in Cornish today," said Rick Kendall, site superintendent. "Saint-Gaudens moved to Cornish specifically to work on this piece and found a local model to pose for the sculpture. It would be the first monument he would complete here in New Hampshire."

In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt called on Saint-Gaudens to do the intricate artwork for U.S. coinage including handsome $10 and $20 gold pieces.

Visits to Aspet include tours of the home and the artist's studios along with an informative Visitors Center orientation film. Spacious grounds include wooded trails where people may absorb the beauty, solitude and natural surroundings that helped Saint Gaudens produce his masterpieces.

The trip there, through rural central Vermont, is half the fun. Route 103 takes travelers past covered bridges, quaint New England towns and countless pristine working farm fields.

The longest covered bridge in America crosses the Connecticut River near Aspet between Windsor, Vt. and Cornish, N.H. The 460-foot long Cornish-Windsor Bridge, built in 1866, is also the longest two-span covered bridge in the world.

Like Saint-Gaudens' art, it has stood the test of time and is an enduring part of America's heritage.

An early autumn leaf-peeping trip for "Standing Lincoln's" Sept. 26 dedication would be a great time to visit this historic site. However, there's plenty on tap this summer, too. The calendar for July and August features a variety of fun concerts and interesting sculpture workshops.

For information go to: www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm.

Source: Day Tripping: Famed sculptor's home a great summer destination