Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/407

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
SEAMAN—SEDGWICK
389

Academy. Mr. Toft's figure, " The Bather," was a notable exhibit, and it was bought by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest for the national collection. A large work in marble which attracted much attention was the statue " Premier Matin " by the Belgian sculptor Egide Rombeaux. Political interest in Serbia, arising out of the war, was in part responsible for the exhibition this year in London of the work of Mestrovic, the Serbian sculptor; his work, though showing an extreme revolt against academicism, is undoubtedly powerful and full of indi- vidualism. Rodin's already well-known bronze group, " The Burghers of Calais," purchased in 1912 by the National Arts Collection fund, was erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, London, and the memorial statue of Capt. Scott was set up in Waterloo Place, London.

Derwent Wood won further honour with his child's head (a portrait of Master Charles Haviland Hillman) in the Academy in 1917. This year was specially marked, however, by the death of that greatest of modern sculptors, Auguste Rodin, a master who has exercised probably a greater influence upon the sculp- ture of his day than has any before him. His works had long since found their way into every important public and private collection of modern art in Europe and America; a triumph of extraordinary significance, because it was not until compara- tively late in his career that he won official recognition.

In Aug. 1919 a picturesque figure was removed from sculpture circles by the death of Walter Winans. Never a sculptor of more than technical ability, Winans worked to please himself and for the entertainment of his friends. Horses and shooting were perhaps as great a passion with him, and, though in sculp- ture he was a gifted dilettante and no more, he had some suc- cesses and was widely known.

Save for the few exceptions of those men who were physically unable to render war-service, almost every British sculptor had now been for some time with the fighting forces or engaged in the hospitals or munition works at home. Metals particularly those of which bronze is constituted were controlled by Gov- ernment in order to safeguard the supply necessary to the manu- facture of war munitions. This supply, though sufficient for those needs, did not very far exceed them; it is worthy of note, therefore, that the Government, in the interests of sculpture, ascertained the average amount of bronze used by those sculp- tors who were still at work, and assigned to each such quantity of metal as was in fair proportion to his previous needs. Beyond this, however, the British Government did little or nothing to encourage or to make use of sculpture, though Germany, in the meantime, found a valuable weapon in the production of war medals, which were designed as propaganda to serve the double purpose of heartening the German people by commemorating real or supposed victories and of disseminating in neutral coun- tries evidence of Albion's perfidy and of the success of German arms. These medals, of which some hundred or more were de- signed, are in very many cases works of a high artistic order, and several museums in Great Britain have secured fairly representative collections of them.

During 1920-1 no fewer than three public statues which may well fall under the category of "International Courtesies" were erected in London: the monument of "Gratitude" (a bronze group by Victor Rousseau) the gift of Belgium erected on the Thames Embankment in Canning Enclosure, Westminster; the statue of Abraham Lincoln by Saint-Gaudens a gift of the United States; and the bronze replica of Houdon's George Washington, presented by the state of Virginia and set up in Trafalgar Square.

The London memorial to Nurse Cavell by Sir George Framp- ton, erected near St. Martin's church, Trafalgar Square, caused something like a sensation in 1920 by the evidence it gave of this well-known academic sculptor's conversion to simple and severe forms of archaicism. This was particularly noticeable in the treatment of the architectural forms. Some remarkable sculpture was exhibited in June 1921 by Paul Manship, a sculptor of great individuality and strength of modelling. In July 1921 Bertram MacKennal's equestrian statue of King

Edward VII. was unveiled in Waterloo Place by King George. The sculptor was knighted after the ceremony. In Scotland Mr. Pettendrigh MacGillivry was made " King's Sculptor," a title that has no counterpart in England. (C. Po.)

UNITED STATES. Although the period 1910-20 brought to light no new master in American sculpture, it showed an in- crease in the number of sculptors, and much good work was done. D. C. French, who in 1920 had reached the age of 70, was still indefatigable; conspicuous among his later works were the " Melvin Memorial" and the statue of Emerson, both at Concord, Mass. ; " Lincoln," at Lincoln, Neb. ; the Longfellow and Lafayette reliefs; the exquisite Spencer Trask Memorial at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and the imposing " Lincoln" for Washington, D.C., besides a score of architectural groups of high value. F. W. MacMonnies erected a " Pioneer Fountain " at Denver and a Washington group at Princeton, N.J. G. G. Barnard was as always original; his gigantic processionals in Harrisburg, like his rugged " Lincoln " in Cincinnati, compelled attention and discussion. Paul Bartlett devoted years to his equestrian " Lafayette " for Paris, following this with the pedi- mental group for the capitol, Washington, D.C. Henry Shrady's monument to General Grant (Washington, D.C.) was a work of sincerity. H. A. MacNeil embellished Ohio's capitol with his "McKinley Memorial" and Albany with a soldiers' monument. St. Paul and Springfield, 111., and Worcester, Mass., gained new works by Andrew O'Connor. A. A. Weinman's Baltimore group, C. Keek's " Republic " in Pittsburgh, and H. A. Lukeman's various monuments were important contribu- tions. Karl Bitter's untimely death in 1915 was a great loss; among his last works were the admirable East pediment of the Wisconsin state capitol, the austere " Carl Schurz " (New York), and the " Lowry Memorial " in Minneapolis. Another good pedi- ment was that of the Kentucky capitol by Charles Niehaus. Miss Anna Hyatt's "Joan of Arc" (New York) was completely successful. Cyrus E. Dallin continued his mounted Indians; " The Appeal to the Great Spirit " was perhaps the finest. J. E. Eraser's " End of the Trail " was a notable achievement. Among portrait statues were Weinman's seated "Lincoln" (Hodgens- ville, Ky.); Edmund T. Quinn's "Edwin Booth" (New York); R. Tait McKenzie's "Whitefield" (Philadelphia) ; and Leonard Crunelle's "Governor Oglesby" (Chicago). Herbert Adams produced his "Bryant" (New York), as also his graceful Mac- Millan Fountain in Washington, D.C. In portrait busts Charles Grafly continued to lead, with his former pupil, Albin Polasek, a close second. Atillio Piccirilli's " Outcast " and "A Soul " were sculpture " by first intention." McCartan's graceful fauns and Rudolf Evans' beautiful "Golden Hour" were of this period. Chester Beach and Paul Manship continued their successful work. Sherry Fry's fountain for St. George, Staten Island, re- vealed skill of a high order. Evelyn Longman was well repre- sented by her Allison Memorial (Des Moines, la.), and the Illinois Centennial Monument, Logan Square, Chicago. Nellie V. Walker had important works in many western cities for example, her heroic "Keokuk." Lorado i'aft's " Black Hawk " and several fountains were also of this period. Doubtless the most stimulating event of the decade was the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1913 in San Francisco. Among the many sculp- tors who made valuable contribution to its display of decorative art were Calder. Aitken, Rath, MacNeil, Jaegers, and Konti.

(L. T.)

SEAMAN, SIR OWEN (1861- ), English poet and editor of Punch (see 24.543), was knighted in 1914. His later volumes include War Time (1915); Made in England (1916) and From the Home Front (1918), mainly reprints of verses contributed to Punch. At the beginning of the World War he joined the "Veterans" corps of the former Inns of Court Volunteers, later known as the Inns of Court Reserve Corps (2nd batt. of the County of London Volunteer Regt.). He was gazetted lieutenant in 1916.


SEDGWICK, ADAM (1856-1913), English biologist, was born at Norwich Sept. 28 1856. Educated at Marlborough, King's College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge, he became fellow and tutor of his college and assisted F. M. Balfour, the first