With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum
Sculpture
1867 – 1941
- Biography/Description of Work
Born of Danish parents in the Idaho Territory in 1867, Gutzon Borglum began sculpting at the turn of the century, creating figures of saints and apostles for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City in 1901. He is best known for his monumental works, specifically Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, which was created between 1927 and 1941. Other commissions include the 1915 Stone Mountain monument near Atlanta, depicting confederate heroes Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson (started in 1923, never completed and later blasted off), as well as other public works of art including a head of Abraham Lincoln, exhibited in Theodore Roosevelt’s White House and held in the United States Capitol Crypt in Washington, D.C. Public works in Connecticut include the Nathaniel Wheeler Memorial Fountain dedicated in Bridgeport in 1912.
- Sources view
- Uconn database, Bob Gregson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutzon_Borglum, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/rushmore-borglum/, http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/stone/gutzon.html, http://www.nps.gov/moru/historyculture/upload/Sculptor%20Gutzon%20Borglum%20A.pdf, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/74150/Gutzon-Borglum, http://www.rushmoreborglum.com/, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo31, http://www.nndb.com/people/610/000166112/, http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdborg.htm, http://rushmore.wingfoot.org/white2.html, http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/The-Dart-Artists-drawn-to-Stamford-home-2410824.php Gutzon Borglum - Sculptor - National Park Services, Gutzon Borglum Article - New York Times - 1908-10-11, Gutzon Borglum Article - New York Times - 1914-1-26, Gutzon Borglum Article - New York Times - 1918-5-11, Gutzon Borglum Article - New York Times - 1925-3-2, Gutzon Borglum Article - New York Times - 1925-3-3, Gutzon Borglum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Wheeler_Memorial_Fountain
- Associated Resource(s)