Louise Adele Gould 1904

Augustus Saint-Gaudens crafted this marble bust, Louise Adele Gould, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Look at the way the light glances off the smooth surfaces, the almost liquid quality of the stone. It's like the artist has coaxed the solid marble into something soft and yielding. I love how Saint-Gaudens really worked the material to create the texture of skin and fabric. The folds of the drapery around her shoulders are so subtly carved. You can almost feel the weight of the cloth. And her face, with those delicate features, is full of an inner stillness. There’s a certain vulnerability there too, in the way she looks slightly down and to the side, giving her a bit of attitude. She reminds me of some of the early Renaissance sculptures, you know, Donatello, those guys. But Saint-Gaudens brings his own sensibility. It’s a reminder that art-making is never really done, it's more of an ongoing conversation.