Statue of Charles Sumner | |
---|---|
| |
Artist | Anne Whitney |
Subject | Charles Sumner |
Location | General MacArthur Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts |
42°22′29″N 71°07′08″W / 42.37471°N 71.11881°W |
A bronze statue of Charles Sumner, by sculptor Anne Whitney, is installed in General MacArthur Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [1] The plaster model for the statue is on display indoors at the Watertown public library. [2] The sculpture of Sumner, a popular local statesman, was commissioned by the Boston Art Committee shortly after his death in 1874.
In 1875, the Boston Art Committee hosted a blind competition [3] [4] [5] for model sculptures of Sumner. [6] Whitney knew Sumner, a senator and abolitionist, [6] through her brother Alexander, who had been a classmate of Sumner's. She depicted him seated in a chair, in part because of the artistic practice of portraying people seated to "represent dignity and something of state." [7] She won the contest, including some prize money, [8] however when the judges realized they had selected a work made by a woman, they decided it would be inappropriate for a woman to sculpt a man's legs, and rejected it for installation. They selected a different sculpture by Thomas Ball, which was installed in the Boston Public Garden. [3] [4] [5]
Both the Sumners and the Whitneys were disappointed by this turn of events, but Whitney wrote in a letter, "Bury your grievance; it will take more than the Boston Art committee to quench me." [6] She exhibited the model of Sumner at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, and elsewhere around the country. [7] Following an 1879 exhibit of the model, the New York Evening Post wrote of the judge's decision, "Think of a woman bringing her mind to bear on the legs of a man-even if those legs were inside a pair of stone trousers!" The New York Evening Telegram wrote a verse which starts:
"You see, ’tis a fixed law of art, my friend,
That only a man can superintend
The play of muscle and post of limb,
Whenever a statue is made of him. ...
Yet under the dome of the Capitol
Stands Samuel Adams erect and tall,
As free as his namesake before the fall;
And though the image was carved by woman
Rarely is marble so grandly human." [7]
In 1902, an anonymous donor funded the casting of the statue, and friends arranged for its installation in General MacArthur Square, by Harvard Square.
Statue of Charles Sumner | |
---|---|
| |
Artist | Anne Whitney |
Subject | Charles Sumner |
Location | General MacArthur Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts |
42°22′29″N 71°07′08″W / 42.37471°N 71.11881°W |
A bronze statue of Charles Sumner, by sculptor Anne Whitney, is installed in General MacArthur Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [1] The plaster model for the statue is on display indoors at the Watertown public library. [2] The sculpture of Sumner, a popular local statesman, was commissioned by the Boston Art Committee shortly after his death in 1874.
In 1875, the Boston Art Committee hosted a blind competition [3] [4] [5] for model sculptures of Sumner. [6] Whitney knew Sumner, a senator and abolitionist, [6] through her brother Alexander, who had been a classmate of Sumner's. She depicted him seated in a chair, in part because of the artistic practice of portraying people seated to "represent dignity and something of state." [7] She won the contest, including some prize money, [8] however when the judges realized they had selected a work made by a woman, they decided it would be inappropriate for a woman to sculpt a man's legs, and rejected it for installation. They selected a different sculpture by Thomas Ball, which was installed in the Boston Public Garden. [3] [4] [5]
Both the Sumners and the Whitneys were disappointed by this turn of events, but Whitney wrote in a letter, "Bury your grievance; it will take more than the Boston Art committee to quench me." [6] She exhibited the model of Sumner at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, and elsewhere around the country. [7] Following an 1879 exhibit of the model, the New York Evening Post wrote of the judge's decision, "Think of a woman bringing her mind to bear on the legs of a man-even if those legs were inside a pair of stone trousers!" The New York Evening Telegram wrote a verse which starts:
"You see, ’tis a fixed law of art, my friend,
That only a man can superintend
The play of muscle and post of limb,
Whenever a statue is made of him. ...
Yet under the dome of the Capitol
Stands Samuel Adams erect and tall,
As free as his namesake before the fall;
And though the image was carved by woman
Rarely is marble so grandly human." [7]
In 1902, an anonymous donor funded the casting of the statue, and friends arranged for its installation in General MacArthur Square, by Harvard Square.