The Gilded Age in American Art

Discussion Starters: Visual

• What is the center of interest? How does your eye move through this relief?
• What shapes are repeated?
• How has Saint-Gaudens balanced the composition?
• Is this a low or high relief?

This low, or bas [pronounced bah] relief was first modeled in clay, then cast in bronze.

Kenyon Cox, an artist, critic, and friend of Saint-Gaudens, described the technique of low relief as not dealing with "actual form, but with the appearance of form . . . standing between sculpture and drawing." Discuss how this statement applies to this work.

How does Saint-Gaudens' training as a cameo cutter evident in his work?

When Stevenson first saw the finished relief he wrote that he believed "it to be a speaking likeness." What do you think he meant by this? How did Saint-Gaudens capture the individuality of the writer?

How did Saint-Gaudens create a strong image of Stevenson, even though Stevenson posed for Saint-Gaudens while he was recovering from an illness?

Several versions of this portrait exist. Saint-Gaudens first modeled this relief as a long rectangle with the entire bed depicted. How does this circular version create a more intimate mood?