Fig 1
![, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887-88, cast 1890. Bronze. Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton. Artwork in the public domain; image available from Wikimedia Commons. [larger image]](publication/340293433/figure/fig1/AS:902760149037060@1592246200946/Augustus-Saint-Gaudens-Robert-Louis-Stevenson-1887-88-cast-1890-Bronze-Princeton.png)
, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887-88, cast 1890. Bronze. Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton. Artwork in the public domain; image available from Wikimedia Commons. [larger image]
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... a second, circular version of the portrait Saint-Gaudens placed more emphasis on Stevenson's credo ( fig. 1). Eliminating the Pegasus symbol and half of the bed, he drew closer to the writer and his verses. The medallion format-recalling Renaissance medalsstrengthens the connection between the two. Stevenson's physical frailty is apparent in the sunken body, slender arm, and delicate fingers that hold his trademark cigarette. ...
Context 2
... and cultural markers of abledness and disabledness." [30] She rightly views the basrelief as an intimate counterpoint to the sculptor's monumental work. Boylan makes much of the decision to represent the writer as bedridden when he was fully, and sometimes frenetically ambulatory, as John Singer Sargent's 1887 painting of him and Fanny shows ( fig. 12). In her reading, an implicitly healthy Saint-Gaudens assumes the role of protector and attendant by representing as Stevenson as "stuck in bed." [31] Expressing his appreciation, Colvin wrote to Saint-Gaudens, "Technically the work seems to me one of the greatest interest, and as a likeness it is far the best that exists." [32] The ...
Context 3
... attendant by representing as Stevenson as "stuck in bed." [31] Expressing his appreciation, Colvin wrote to Saint-Gaudens, "Technically the work seems to me one of the greatest interest, and as a likeness it is far the best that exists." [32] The sculptor also gave Low a plaster cast, which the painter installed over the fireplace in his studio ( fig. 14). In Stevenson's absence, Saint-Gaudens's portrait maintained his presence in the homes of friends on both sides of the Atlantic. ...
Context 4
... his wife, Helena de Kay, Gilder stood at the center of New York's genteel elite ( fig. ...
Context 5
... 1888" (right); the one made for Colvin, "To Sidney Colvin" (left), "Robert Louis Stevenson" (right; fig. ...
Context 7
... of balancing textual desiderata with available space. In the first version of the memorial, the prayer followed by "Requiem" and bordered by three shells fills the entire field around the figure. The dedication and the second poem appear together on the plinth. Visually and conceptually the four-part inscription produced a cluttered composition ( fig. 31). Upon seeing the work in bronze, Saint-Gaudens wrote to Colvin on November 10, 1900, that he was dissatisfied with the patina and was going to have the casting done again. He reported that he had decided on some changes that would "improve" the work and mentioned specifically clearing the space around the sitter's head. [70] To achieve ...
Context 8
... The definitive work on the Stevenson relief is John Dryfhout, "Augustus Saint-Gaudens," in Metamorphoses in Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, ed. Jeanne L. Wasserman, exh. cat. Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, 1975), 181-217. Unless otherwise indicated, information about reproductions of and variations on the image is taken from this source. Fig. 1, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887-88, cast 1890. Bronze. ...
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Citations
Although “frail warrior” appears a contradiction in terms, the epithet captures how Robert Louis Stevenson’s admirers sought to reconcile a late-nineteenth-century ideal of physical manliness with the reality of the adventure writer’s debilitating illness. This construction of the writer’s public image is evident in accounts of his stay at the Saranac Lake, NY, tuberculosis sanatorium during the frigid winter of 1887–1888. The institution’s distinctive wilderness setting for medical treatment enabled a heroic model of disabled masculinity, one that is framed by American national identity. This archetype informs the author’s posthumous reputation and shows how gender and nationality shape metaphoric thinking about illness and authorship.
