Give the man room : $b The story of Gutzon BorglumCasey, Robert J. (Robert Joseph)
General
Give the man room : $b The story of Gutzon Borglum
Casey, Robert J. (Robert Joseph)
Borglum, Gutzon, 1867-1941
Here in all the sublimity of majesty we see the symbolism of life,
the symbolism of love, affection, devotion and piety. Like the
chrysalis that liberates the butterfly, we see the soul that hovers
above this classic piece of marble. We seem to feel the same thrill
as we watch the distended lips that drink the breath of life. We
wonder. There is something in this appealing countenance that
strikes us with peculiar awe. We see a soul rising above passion.
We feel the same admiration that we do for a flower that forces
itself up through the muddy soil into a new life and light--a sort
of emancipation. We see the early morning sun break through the
skies of splendor, the unfolding of the rose, the _Wille zum
Guten_, the revelation.
The group called “I Have Piped and Ye Have Not Danced” was produced in
the studio at about this time, but never during his life got out of the
plaster stage because Gutzon could never afford a large enough piece of
marble when he had the time to carve it. The thought of it had been in
his mind a long time. The initial idea, he said, had come to him at a
concert where Ysaye, the violinist, had been playing. The way the women
stood up at the end of the concert, arranging their furs and chattering
about where they were going next made him feel that the music had passed
completely over them, leaving no impression. He exhibited the female
figure alone as a pastel sketch in Boston in 1901, where it elicited the
following description of the group from Lillian Whiting, poet and art
critic:
It is the ideal figure of a girl, her hands thrown up and clasped
to the right, the head turned a little to one side, and the
countenance bearing the most inscrutable expression. She has been
piping to Pan, who lies at her feet unmoved, unrecognizing, until
she drops the pipes and the melody ceases. Then he is aroused and
turns to see why the music is heard no more. It is one of the most
typical interpretations of life. The artist paints his ideal
vision. The poet offers his dream. The musician sings his song. And
the world goes on, careless, unheeding. At last, saddened and spent
for want of that sympathy which should have made life all joy and
ecstasy, the painter turns his canvas to the wall. The poet drops
his pen. The song of the singer is heard no more, and the world
turns to ask the meaning of this silence.
Since Borglum’s death the figure has been carved in marble and is in
California.
In the meantime a very large “pipe dream,” something made for his own
pleasure, the sculptor said, was gradually taking shape in his New York
studio. His love for horses and the exceptional opportunity for studying
their movements at the Baldwin ranch in California were still bright in
his mind. They always were. He said once that he never saw a horse
anywhere that he didn’t study it and learn something new.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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