'Tell It with Pride' at the National Gallery of Art

Before the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday week slips completely away, I do want to acknowledge the moving special exhibition at the National Gallery of Art called 'Tell It with Pride'.  It was one of many exhibitions mounted around Washington, DC in honor of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King's 'I have a dream' speech.

The National Gallery used their version of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' memorial to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as the centerpiece of an exhibit covering the formation and subsequent history of the galant African American regiment -- also depicted in the 1989 movie 'Glory' that starred Matthew Broderick (as Shaw), Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar for best supporting actor), and Morgan Freeman.

The 1897 bronze casting of the Shaw Memorial (below) sits in the Boston Public Garden.

'Shaw Memorial' by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, bronze casting, 1897, Boston Public Garden

The National Gallery's version (below), completed in 1900 is done in patinated plaster.  Beautifully lit, first glimpsed at the end of a long vista through several galleries it is a compelling, even sublime work of art. 

'Shaw Memorial' by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, patinated plaster, 1900, National Gallery of Art

It is on a long-term loan to the Gallery by the National Parks Service which has included the Gallery's restoration work. Saint-Gaudens created the 1900 plaster version so that he could make several 'refinements' to the sculpture.

Both versions show Colonel Shaw riding his horse beside a column of soldiers from the 54th infantry led by their 16-year-old drummer, Private Alexander Johnson, presumably marching into the battle at Fort Wagner in South Carolina. Nearly 50% of the 600 men were killed, captured, missing and presumed dead, or wounded in that battle.  An angel carrying a laurel branch hovers above the column.

The memorial is done in high relief with the mounted figure of Colonel Shaw nearly free-standing.  It must have been very difficult to cast in bronze for the Boston Garden.

The rest of the exhibition at the National Gallery included photographs of members of the 54th infantry and their recollections of how they came to join the regiment (they were all volunteers eager to fight for the Union side). Apparently many African Americans offered to fight for the Union at the start of the Civil War in 1961, but they were unable to enlist legally until Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on New Years Day, 1863.

In May of that year, the regiment was ready for battle and in June they were sent to the coast of South Carolina.  Although they were defeated in the battle to take Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863 and Shaw leading the charge was among the first to die, the 54th is remembered for proving that African Americans were as brave and committed to freedom as any in the Union Army.

In 1973 Lincoln Kirstein (the co-founder with George Balanchine of the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet) and Robert Benson published 'Lay This Laurel', a book of Benson's photographs of the Shaw Memorial in Boston Garden.  

Photo from 'Lay This Laurel' by Richard Benson, 1973

The book lead to subsequent efforts to restore and preserve the memorial.