A master's last piece: Winning eBay bid brings final Taft bronze to Oregon art collection
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Perhaps it was fitting that when he died in his studio home in Chicago, he was creating a memorial piece commissioned to be placed on a grave. It was to depict a man – young, with face and arms upraised – and be called “Aspiration.”
But that final piece was never finished. All that was thought to remain of “Aspiration” was an old photograph that shows a working plaster model in the center of Taft’s studio at the time of his death, in 1936.
That is, until now.
Before he embarked on the full-size version of “Aspiration,” Taft sculpted a 14.5-inch version. Unlike the plaster model that is thought to have since disintegrated, his minor version was cast permanently in bronze. Now, after changing hands several times, a pair of keen eyes and a winning online bid on eBay have ensured that his final bronze piece will become a permanent part of the Taft legacy in Oregon.
“Aspiration,” the miniature, arrived in town this week (((((((**need to check**))))), and likely will be on display soon in the Eagle’s Nest Colony Art Collection of the Oregon Public Library. The collection is named for he colony that Taft created and mentored in the woods of what is now the Lorado Taft Field Campus of Northern Illinois University on the western banks of the Rock River north of Oregon.
Lynn Allyn Young, the founder of Chicago-based Artistic License Limited, found it for auction on eBay, an Internet auction site. Young, who once presented a photo lecture on Taft in Oregon and is writing a book on his work, contacted Betty Croft, of Oregon, who helped to buy the statue.
The final bid, according to the Web site, was $2,275.
“It is truly a rare find and a treasure,” Croft said.
Like it’s name, the statue has ties to the aspirations that are part of the state’s agricultural and manufacturing history. It was made to be a sketch model for a 10-foot marble memorial statue for the grave of Emmons McCormick Blaine, Jr., who died of pneumonia in 1918 at the age of 28
Blaine was the the grandson of Cyrus McCormick, who founded a company in Chicago that would become International Harvester Co.
Taft historians assume that the larger piece was destroyed, but the small statue probably was given to Blaine’s mother and disposed of by trustees of her estate after she died in 1954.
The statue showed up in 1955 in a Chicago antique shop, where it was bought by Thomas McDonough and his wife. They made inquiries to art experts and people who had known Taft to confirm that it was an original piece.
Mary Webster, who had been Taft’s assistant and secretary, knew of the piece and that it had been cast in bronze by Gorham Foundries, but she had not seen it again.
Oregon Library Board President Terry Schuster said he was pleased with the addition to the library’s collection. He said he hopes to have it on display in time for the Fields Project artists’ brunch on Monday.
“It’s a perfect fit for this community,” he said. “With our ties to art and to Lorado Taft, to actually have the last piece he worked on — it’s priceless.”With his “Eternal Indian” towering down over the Rock River valley, his stony vision of Civil War soldiers gracing the lawn of the Ogle County Courthouse, and playful fountains still delighting children in Mix Park, sculptor Lorado Taft had made a mark on Oregon that has endured more than 70 years after his death.
Perhaps it was fitting that when he died in his studio home in Chicago, he was creating a memorial piece commissioned to be placed on a grave. It was to depict a man – young, with face and arms upraised – and be called “Aspiration.”
But that final piece was never finished. All that was thought to remain of “Aspiration” was an old photograph that shows the working plaster model in the center of Taft’s studio at the tme of his death, in 1936.
That is, until now.
Before he embarked on the full-size 5-foot version of “Aspiration,” Taft sculpted a 14.5-inch version. Unlike the plaster model that is thought to have since disintegrated, his minor version was cast permanently in bronze. Now, after it had changed hands several times, a pair of keen eyes and a winning online bid on eBay have ensured that the final bronze piece will become a permanent part of the artist’s legacy in Oregon.
“Aspiration,” the miniature, arrived in town this week (((((((**need to check**))))), and likely will be on display soon in the Eagle’s Nest Colony Art Collection of the Oregon Public Library. The collection is named for he colony that Taft created and mentored in the woods of what is now the Lorado Taft Field Campus of Northern Illinois University on the western banks of the Rock River north of Oregon.
Lynn Allyn Young, the founder of Chicago-based Artistic License Limited found it for auction on eBay, an Internet auction site. Young, who once presented a photo lecture on Taft in Oregon and is writing a book on his work, contacted Betty Croft, of Oregon, who helped to buy the statue.
The final bid, according to the Web site, was $2,275.
“It is truly a rare find and a treasure,” Croft said.
Like it’s name, the statue has ties to the aspirations that are part of the state’s agricultural and manufacturing history. It was made to be a sketch model for a 10-foot marble memorial statue for the grave of Emmons McCormick Blaine, Jr., who died of pneumonia in 1918 at the age of 28
Blaine was the the grandson of Cyrus McCormick, who founded a company in Chicago that would become International Harvester Co.
Taft historians assume that the larger piece was destroyed, but the small statue probably was given to Blaine’s mother and disposed of by trustees of her estate after she died in 1954.
The statue showed up in 1955 in a Chicago antique shop, where it was bought by Thomas McDonough and his wife. They made inquiries to art experts and people who had known Taft to confirm that it was an original piece.
Mary Webster, who had been Taft’s assistant and secretary, knew of the piece and that it had been cast in bronze by Gorham Foundries, but she had not seen it again.
Oregon Library Board President Terry Schuster said he was pleased with the addition to the library’s collection. He said he hopes to have it on display in time for the Fields Project artists’ brunch on Monday.
“It’s a perfect fit for this community,” he said. “With our ties to art and to Lorado Taft, to actually have the last piece he worked on — it’s priceless.”
The Taft file
Lorado Zadoc Taft
Born: 1860 in
Elmwood, Ill.
Died: 1936 in Chicago
Eagle’s Nest
Art Colony
In 1898, a group of artists led by Taft was looking for a place to escape from the city. Wallace Heckman, a Chicago attorney and patron of the arts, offered his place in Oregon.
Their lease was $1 plus two art lectures to the Oregon community. The group was named after a dead tree with an eagle’s nest where the group used to watch the setting sun. The place now is marked by the 50-foot-high concrete statue, “The Eternal Indian,” better known locally as Chief Black Hawk.
The collection
Perhaps not as well known, Taft and the members of the Eagle’s Nest Art Colony left another treasure to the Oregon community. They made an art gallery on the second floor of the Oregon Public Library. It was founded in October 1918, according to a plaque inside the gallery.
Source: Sauk Valley Newspapers archives
See lorado taft’s work
Around town
There are other Taft works on display around Oregon.
■ He built the “Soldiers and Sailors Monuments” at the south end of the Ogle County Courthouse.
■ The fountains in Mix Park are Taft’s doing as well.
Outside Oregon
In Chicago, there are several Taft pieces, including:
■ “Fountain of Time,” the Herald Square Monument
■ “Solitude of the Soul” and “Fountain of the Great Lakes,” both at the Art Institute of Chicago.
■ Downstate, he created the “Alma Mater” at the University of Illinois.
■ “Lincoln the Orator” is also in Urbana.
Elsewhere
Taft is responsible for:
■ The Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
■ The Columbus Fountain in Washington, D.C.
■ The Chief Paduke statue in Paducah, Ky.
