Lorado Taft

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Lorado Taft : biography

April 29, 1860 – October 30, 1936

Taft was active until the end of his life. The week before he died, he attended the Quincy, Illinois, dedication ceremonies for his sculpture celebrating the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

He left unfinished a vast work to be called the "Fountain of Creation" which he planned to place at the opposite end of the Chicago Midway from the "Fountain of Time."[images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/Taft/taftbio.asp Taft Biography], University of Illinois Library, accessed May 16, 2012. Parts of this work were donated to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and are now at the library and Foellinger Auditorium. The University named a dormitory and a street in Taft’s honor. and Taft Drive,

Notes

Sculptor’s body of work

Lorado Taft was a member of the National Sculpture Society and exhibited at both their 1923 and 1929 shows. Today Taft is best remembered for his various fountains.

Fountain of Time

Following more than a dozen years of work, Taft’s Fountain of Time was unveiled at the west end of Chicago’s Midway Plaisance in 1922. Based on poet Austin Dobson’s lines — "Time goes, you say? Ah no, Alas, time stays, we go." — the fountain shows a cloaked figure of time observing the stream of humanity flowing past.

Pioneer & Patriot Groups for the Louisiana State Capitol Building

The last major commission that Taft completed was two groups for the front entrance to the Louisiana State Capitol Building, dedicated in 1932.

Selected commissions

  • LaFayette Fountain, Lafayette, Indiana, 1887.
  • Schuyler Colfax, University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1887.
  • 4th Michigan Infantry Monument, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1889.
  • General Ulysses S. Grant Monument, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1889.
  • Student Veteran Memorial, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, 1895.
  • Defense of the Flag, Withington Park, Jackson, Michigan, 1904.
  • George Washington, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1905-09. Created for the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition.
  • Eternal Silence, Graves Memorial, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, 1909.
  • Chief Paduke Statue, Jefferson Street, Paducah, Kentucky, 1909.
  • Black Hawk Statue Monument, aka Eternal Indian, Oregon, Illinois, 1911.
  • The Solitude of the Soul, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1911-14.
  • Columbus Fountain, in front of Union Station, Washington, D.C., 1912.
  • Fountain of the Great Lakes, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1913.
  • Seated Woman With Children aka Music, Chicago, Illinois, 1915
  • The Soldiers’ Monument, Oregon, Illinois, 1916.
  • Thatcher Memorial Fountain, Denver, Colorado, 1918.
  • Two Boys with Dolphins Fountain, Oregon, Illinois, ca. 1920
  • Fountain of Time, Chicago, Illinois, 1922.
  • William A. Foote Memorial, Woodland Cemetery, Jackson, Michigan, 1923.
  • Lincoln the Lawyer, Urbana, Illinois, 1927.
  • Alma Mater, University of Illinois, 1929.
  • Frances Elizabeth Willard (plaque), Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1929.Scherrer, Anton. "Our Town." Indianapolis Times. 18 April 1939.
  • The Crusader, Lawson Monument, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, 1931.
  • Two Groups: The Pioneers and The Patriots, Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1932.
  • Bas-relief of Lincoln – Douglas Debate, Quincy, October 13, 1858, Quincy, Illinois, 1936.
  • Heald Square Monument (Robert Morris – George Washington – Haym Salomon), Chicago, Illinois, 1936-41. Completed by Leonard Crunelle following Taft’s 1936 death.

File:Lafayette Fountain 29.jpg|LaFayette Fountain (1887), Tippecanoe County Courthouse, Lafayette, Indiana. File:Schuyler Colfax by Lorado Zadoc Taft (1887) Control IAS 76008067.jpg|Schuyler Colfax (1887), University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana. File:Monument to the 4th Michigan Infantry at Gettysburg.jpg|4th Michigan Infantry Monument (1889), Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. File:Defense_of_the_Flag.jpg|Defense of the Flag (1904), Jackson, Michigan. File:Installing the George Washington statue for the A-Y-P – 1909.jpg|George Washington (1905–09), University of Washington, Seattle. File:Fountain Of The Great Lakes.jpg|Fountain of the Great Lakes (1907–13), Art Institute of Chicago. File:Black_Hawk_by_Lorado_Taft.jpg|Black Hawk Statue (1908–11), Lowden State Park, Oregon, Illinois. File:Chicago, Illinois Eternal Silence1 crop.jpg|Eternal Silence (1909), Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois. File:Solitude of Soul1.jpg|The Solitude of the Soul (1911–14), Art Institute of Chicago. File:Columbus Fountain by Lorado Zadoc Taft (1912).jpg|Columbus Fountain (1912), Union Station, Washington, D.C. File:Seated_Woman_With_Children_by_Lorado_Taft.jpg|Seated Woman With Children, (1915), Chicago Illinois File:Oregon Il The Soldiers’ Monument5.jpg|The Soldiers’ Monument (1916), Oregon, Illinois. File:MonumentTaft.jpg|Thatcher Memorial Fountain (1918), Denver, Colorado. File:Two_Boys_with_Dolphins_Fountain.jpg|Two Boys with Dolphins (ca. 1920), Oregon, Illinois. File:LTFountainOfTime2.jpg|Taft’s self-portrait on the Fountain of Time (1922), Chicago, Illinois. File:Foote_Memorial.jpg|Foote Memorial (1923), Jackson, Michigan. File:Alma-front.jpg|Alma Mater (1929), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. File:Chicago, Illinois The Crusader1.jpg|The Crusader (1931), Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois. File:Louisiana State Capitol scuptured figures.jpg|The Patriots (1932), Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge. File:UIUC 20071006 img 2247.jpg|Part of the Fountain of Creation (1933, unfinished), at the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. File:Quincy Lincoln Douglas Taft.JPG|Lincoln – Douglas Debate, Quincy, October 13, 1858. (1936), Quincy, Illinois. File:Heald Monument (2).JPG|Heald Square Monument (1936–41), Chicago, Illinois. Completed by Leonard Crunelle.