Statue of General Sherman
Augustus Saint Gaudens

This statue was a plaster version of Saint Gaudens' equestrian figure of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, having been commissioned by the Sherman Monument Committee. Obtaining this sculpture, exhibited at the 1900 Paris Expostion, was very important to Exposition Director of of Fine Arts William A. Coffin. Saint Gaudens was a superstar whose works were widely recognized by his fellow Americans. This figure in particular had been long anticipated for this, its first view in the United States since its debut at the Paris Exposition in 1900. Coffin insisted that the large sculpture be placed facing north, toward the entrance of the Art Building where he believed it would receive the best light for most of the day. (Saint Gaudens preferred that his statues face south.) When the sculptor came to Buffalo to view his Exposition artwork, he remarked that the position of the statue made it appear as though the horse were trotting into a barn. But he took the time to walk around the statue in morning light, noontime, and afternoon, finally agreeing that the unusual placement did show the equestrian statue in the best light.

 

At the end of the Exposition, the Albright Art Gallery made an offer for the plaster Sherman monument, but Saint Gaudens declined in order to continue refining the sculpture. The final version, cast in bronze and gilded, was unveiled in 1903 and installed in New York City at 5th Avenue and 59th Street at the south entrance to Central Park where it can be seen today.

 

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