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Lot Essay
Robert Louis Stevenson is widely recognized as one of the greatest authors of his time, achieving celebrity status with Treasure Island (1883) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), among others. Upon reading Stevenson's The New Arabian Nights, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens wrote to their mutual friend, painter Will H. Low, "if Stevenson ever crossed to this side of the water, I should consider it an honor, if he would allow me to make his portrait." (as quoted in American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. I, New York, 1999, p. 288) Low arranged a meeting of the two men, and in 1887, Saint-Gaudens began work on the present bronze portrait relief.
Posing over five sessions at the Hotel Albert in New York, Stevenson, who was ill with tuberculosis, is depicted propped up on pillows in bed with a sheaf of papers on his lap. In casting the relief in bronze, Saint-Gaudens initially created a rectangular composition, but soon decided that the work was much improved by a circular format. The first of the 36-in. diameter medallions, made for collector George A. Armour, was cast in 1890 at the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, New York (now in the Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey). Three more casts were made in this size before 1900, including one for collector Benjamin Cable (the present work), one for Stevenson himself (Private Collection, New York) and another for his friend and biographer Sidney Colvin (Tate Gallery, London). All of the casts are unique, with changes in drapery, dedications and other details. Of these works, the present work and the Princeton University example retain octagonal carved wood frames, each likely designed by Stanford White. These castings are also unique in their gilded surface, which does not appear on the other versions.
Including the four reliefs made before 1900, a total of 13 casts in the 36-in. size are known. Later casts are held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, Cornish, New Hampshire; The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana; and The Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pebble Beach, California. After Stevenson's death, a renewed interest in his writings led Saint-Gaudens to also cast several editions of bronze reductions.
Proceeds from the sale of the present work will benefit the arts at the Upland Country Day School, Kennet Square, Pennsylvania.
Posing over five sessions at the Hotel Albert in New York, Stevenson, who was ill with tuberculosis, is depicted propped up on pillows in bed with a sheaf of papers on his lap. In casting the relief in bronze, Saint-Gaudens initially created a rectangular composition, but soon decided that the work was much improved by a circular format. The first of the 36-in. diameter medallions, made for collector George A. Armour, was cast in 1890 at the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, New York (now in the Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey). Three more casts were made in this size before 1900, including one for collector Benjamin Cable (the present work), one for Stevenson himself (Private Collection, New York) and another for his friend and biographer Sidney Colvin (Tate Gallery, London). All of the casts are unique, with changes in drapery, dedications and other details. Of these works, the present work and the Princeton University example retain octagonal carved wood frames, each likely designed by Stanford White. These castings are also unique in their gilded surface, which does not appear on the other versions.
Including the four reliefs made before 1900, a total of 13 casts in the 36-in. size are known. Later casts are held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, Cornish, New Hampshire; The Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana; and The Robert Louis Stevenson School, Pebble Beach, California. After Stevenson's death, a renewed interest in his writings led Saint-Gaudens to also cast several editions of bronze reductions.
Proceeds from the sale of the present work will benefit the arts at the Upland Country Day School, Kennet Square, Pennsylvania.