Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Nikh-Eiphnh, 1902, plaster, 9 x 5 x 5 in. (22.9 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1968.76
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Nikh-Eiphnh
- Artist
- Date
- 1902
- Location
- Dimensions
- 9 x 5 x 5 in. (22.9 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- plaster
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Monument — memorial — Sherman
- Allegory — other — triumph
- Study — sculpture model
- Figure female — head
- Object Number
- 1968.76
Artwork Description
Nikh-Eiphnh (Peace-Victory) is a study for the head of Victory for the General William Tecumseh Sherman monument in New York. Augustus Saint-Gaudens was awarded the commission in 1891 and began work on the sculpture six years later. He first sculpted the head of Victory after Hettie Anderson, a model in New York, but was dissatisfied with the result, which showed too much “personality.” The Museum’s piece is a plaster cast of his second attempt. He preferred this one, but ultimately decided it did not fit with the monument and went back to the first version. The artist later described the full-length figure of Victory as “the grandest Victory anybody ever made—Hoorah!”
