Lorado Taft

Lorado Zadoc Taft (April 29, 1860 October 30, 1936)

was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft
was born in Elmwood, Illinois, in 1860 and died in his
home studio in Chicago in 1936.[1] Taft was the father of
Representative Emily Taft Douglas, father-in-law to her
husband, Senator Paul Douglas, and a distant relative of
U.S. President William Howard Taft.

behind her on either side represent the universitys motto,

Learning and Labor.[3]
In Paris, Taft attended the cole nationale suprieure des
Beaux-Arts from 1880 to 1883, where he studied with
Augustin Dumont, Jean-Marie Bonnassieux and Jules
Thomas. His record there was outstanding; he was cited
as top man in his studio and twice exhibited at the
Salon. Upon returning to the United States in 1886, he
settled in Chicago. He taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a job he would hold until 1929. In addition to work in clay and plaster, Taft taught his students
marble carving, and had them work on group projects.
He also lectured at the University of Chicago and the
University of Illinois.[4]

Early years and education

Taft at work on Fountain of the Great Lakes in 1913 in Lorado

Taft Midway Studios.

After being homeschooled by his parents, Taft earned

his bachelors degree (1879) and masters degree (1880)
from the Illinois Industrial University (later renamed the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) where his father was a professor of geology.[2] The same year he left
for Paris to study sculpture, yet maintained his connections with the university for the rest of his life. In 1929, he
dedicated his sculpture of Alma Mater on the University
of Illinois campus. Taft envisioned his Alma Mater as a
benign and magnicent woman, about fourteen feet high
and dressed in classical draperies, rising from a throne
and advancing a step forward with outstretched arms in a
gesture of generous greeting to her children. Two gures

The Recording Angel, 1923

In 1892, while the art community of Chicago was preparing for the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893, chief
architect Daniel Burnham expressed concern to Taft that
the sculptural adornments to the buildings might not be
nished on time. Taft asked if he could employ some
of his female students as assistants (it was not socially ac1

2
cepted for women to work as sculptors at that time) for the
Horticultural Building. Burnham responded, Hire anyone, even white rabbits if they'll do the work. From that
arose a group of talented women sculptors known as the
White Rabbits": Enid Yandell, Carol Brooks MacNeil,
Bessie Potter Vonnoh, Janet Scudder, and Julia Bracken.
Later, another former student, Frances Loring, noted that
Taft used his students talents to further his own career,
a not uncommon situation. In general, history has given
Taft credit for helping to advance the status of women as
sculptors.

SCULPTORS BODY OF WORK

In some settings, Taft is better known for his writings than

for his sculpture. In 1903, Taft published The History of
American Sculpture, the rst survey of the subject. The
revised 1925 version was to remain the standard reference on the subject until Wayne Craven published Sculpture in America in 1968. In 1921, Taft published Modern Tendencies in Sculpture, a compilation of his lectures
given at the Art Institute of Chicago. At the time, it offered a distinct perspective on the development of European sculpture; today, the book continues to be regarded
as an excellent survey of American sculpture in the early
years of the 20th century.

In 1898, Taft was a founding member of the Eagles Nest

Art Colony in the small town of Oregon, Illinois. Taft de- Taft was a member of the National Academy of Designed the Columbus Fountain at Union Station in Wash- sign, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the
American Academy of Arts and Letters; he headed the
ington, D.C., in collaboration with Daniel Burnham.
National Sculpture Society in the 1920s and served on the
Board of Art Advisors of Illinois. He received numerous
awards, prizes, and honorary degrees, served on the U.S.
Commission of Fine Arts from 1925 to 1929, and was
2 Later years
an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects. His papers reside in collections at the Smithsonian
As Taft grew older, his eloquence and compelling writing
Archives of American Art, the University of Illinois, and
led him, along with Frederick Ruckstull, to the forefront
the Art Institute of Chicago.[5]
of sculptures conservative ranks, where he often served
as a spokesperson against the modern and abstract trends Taft was active until the end of his life. The week before
that developed during his lifetime. Tafts frequent lec- he died, he attended the Quincy, Illinois, dedication cereture tours for the Chautauqua gave him a broad, popular monies for his sculpture celebrating the Lincoln-Douglas
debates.[1]
celebrity status.
He left unnished 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.[6] Parts of this work were donated to the
University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and are now
at the library and Foellinger Auditorium. The University
named a dormitory and a street in Tafts honor.[7]
In 1965, his Chicago workplace was designated a
National Historic Landmark as Lorado Taft Midway Studios.[8]

3 Sculptors 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.
The University of Illinois Archives has a series of photographs of most of Lorado Tafts important works,
including many of their construction and preliminary
models.[9]

3.1 Fountain of Time

Part of the Fountain of Creation (1933, unnished), at the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Following more than a dozen years of work, Tafts

Fountain of Time was unveiled at the west end of
Chicagos Midway Plaisance in 1922. Based on poet
Austin Dobson's lines "Time goes, you say? Ah no,

3.4

Selected commissions

3
Ulric Ellerhusen
Paul Fjelde
Sherry Edmundson Fry

Fountain of Time (1910-22), Midway Plaisance, Chicago, Illinois.

Waylande Gregory
Carl Augustus Heber

Alas, time stays, we go." the fountain shows a cloaked

gure of time observing the stream of humanity owing
past.

Frederick Hibbard
Mary Lawrence
Evelyn Beatrice Longman
Frances Loring
Carol Brooks MacNeil
Helen Farnsworth Mears
Charles Mulligan
William Clark Noble
C. Adrian Pillars
Trygve Rovelstad
Belle Kinney Scholz
Janet Scudder
Clara Sorensen
John Storrs
Charles Umlauf
Bessie Potter Vonnoh

The Patriots (1932), Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge.

Nellie Walker
Julia Bracken Wendt

3.2

Pioneer & Patriot Groups for the

Louisiana State Capitol Building

Florence Wyle
Enid Yandell

The last major commission that Taft completed was two

groups for the front entrance to the Louisiana State Capi- 3.4 Selected commissions
tol Building, dedicated in 1932.
LaFayette Fountain, Lafayette, Indiana, 1887.

3.3

Students and assistants

During his long career Taft acted as a mentor and teacher

for many sculptors including:
Enrique Alfrez
Jean Pond Miner Coburn
Alice Cooper
Leonard Crunelle

Schuyler Colfax, University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1887.

George Washington, University of Washington,
Seattle, Washington, 1905-09. Created for the 1909
AlaskaYukonPacic Exposition.
Eternal Silence, Graves Memorial, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, 1909.
Chief Paduke Statue, Jeerson Street, Paducah,
Kentucky, 1909.

SCULPTORS BODY OF WORK

Fountain of the Great Lakes, Art Institute of

Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1913.
Seated Woman With Children aka Music, Chicago,
Illinois, 1915
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.[10]
The Crusader, Lawson Monument, Graceland
Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, 1931.
Two Groups: The Pioneers and The Patriots,
Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
1932.On
Lincoln the Lawyer (1929), Urbana, Illinois.

Ontario Sends Greetings to the Sea, eleventh issue of

the Society of Medalists, 1935.
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, Nellie
Walker and Fred Torrey following Tafts 1936 death.

3.5 War memorials

4th Michigan Infantry Monument, Gettysburg Battleeld, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1889.
General Ulysses S. Grant Monument, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1889.

Eternal Silence (1909), Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.

Black Hawk Statue Monument, aka Eternal Indian,

Oregon, Illinois, 1911.

Student Veteran Memorial, Hillsdale College,

Hillsdale, Michigan, 1895.
Defense of the Flag, Withington Park, Jackson,
Michigan, 1904.
The Soldiers Monument, Oregon, Illinois, 1916.

The Solitude of the Soul, Art Institute of Chicago,

Chicago, Illinois, 1911-14.

LaFayette Fountain (1887), Tippecanoe County

Courthouse, Lafayette, Indiana.

Columbus Fountain, in front of Union Station,

Washington, D.C., 1912.

Schuyler Colfax (1887), University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana.

5
4th Michigan Infantry Monument (1889),
Gettysburg Battleeld, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Defense of the Flag (1904), Jackson, Michigan.
George Washington (190509), University of Washington, Seattle.
Fountain of the Great Lakes (190713), Art Institute of Chicago.
Black Hawk Statue (190811), Lowden State Park,
Oregon, Illinois.
The Solitude of the Soul (191114), Art Institute of
Chicago.
Columbus Fountain (1912), Union Station, Washington, D.C.
Seated Woman With Children, (1915), Chicago Illinois
The Soldiers Monument (1916), Oregon, Illinois.
Thatcher Memorial Fountain (1918), Denver, Colorado.
Two Boys with Dolphins (ca. 1920), Oregon, Illinois.
Tafts self-portrait on the Fountain of Time (1922),
Chicago, Illinois.
Foote Memorial (1923), Jackson, Michigan.
Alma Mater (1929), University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
The Crusader (1931),
Chicago, Illinois.

Graceland Cemetery,

[4] Blanche Higgins Schroer, Landmark Review Project: Lorado Taft Midway Studios, National Park Service, 1965.
[5] Thomas E. Luebke, ed., Civic Art: A Centennial History
of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, 556.
[6] Taft Biography, University of Illinois Library, accessed
May 16, 2012.
[7] Taft Hall 400608N 881401W / 40.1021N
88.2337W and Taft Drive, 400611N 881345W /
40.1030N 88.2293W
[8] Blanche Higgins Schroer (April 3, 1976). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Lorado
Taft Midway Studios (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-06-27 and Accompanying 10 photos, exterior
and interior, from 1975 and undated PDF (2.97 MB)
[9] An Inventory of the Lorado Taft Papers at the University
of Illinois Archives. Mounted Photograph Collection - A
series of photographs of most of Lorado Tafts important
works, including many of their construction and preliminary models. uiuc.edu. Links to photographs
[10] Scherrer, Anton. Our Town. Indianapolis Times. 18
April 1939.

5 Sources
Bach, Ira and Mary Lackritz Gray, Chicagos Public Sculpture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
1983
Barnard, Harry, This Great Triumvirate of Patriots
The inspiring Story behind Lorado Tafts Chicago
Monument to George Washington, Robert Morris and
Haym Solomon, Follett Publishing, Chicago Illinois
1971

Lincoln - Douglas Debate, Quincy, October 13, 1858.

(1936), Quincy, Illinois.

Contemporary American Sculpture, The California

Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San
Francisco, The National Sculpture Society 1929

Heald Square Monument (193641), Chicago, Illinois. Completed by Leonard Crunelle, Nellie
Walker and Fred Torrey.

Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y.

Crowell Co, New York 1968

Notes

[1] Mr. Lorado Taft Dies; Leading Sculptor; Creator of

Some of Countrys Outstanding Monuments is Stricken
at 76; Was Teacher in Chicago; Fountain of Time
and Columbus Memorial in Washington Among Chief
Works, New York Times. October 31, 1936.
[2] Tafts association with the University is commemorated
by a street named in his honor.
[3] Allen Weller, Lorado Taft: The Chicago Years, Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 2014, 197-8.

Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue, 156th

Street of Broadway New York, The National Sculpture Society 1923
Garvey, Timothy J., Public Sculptor Lorado Taft
and the Beautication of Chicago, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois 1988
Goode, James M. The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C.'., Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 1974
Kubly, Vincent, The Louisiana Capitol-Its Art and
Architecture, Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna
1977

6
Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture of
America, unpublished manuscript
Lanctot, Barbara, A Walk Through Graceland
Cemetery, Chicago Architecture Foundation,
Chicago 1988
Opitz, Glenn B, Editor, Mantle Fieldings Dictionary
of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo
Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, American Women
Sculptors, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston 1990
Scheinman, Muriel, A Guide to the Art of the University of Illinois, University of Illinois Press, Urbana
1995
Scherrer, Anton. Our Town. Indianapolis Times.
18 April 1939.
Taft, Lorado (1903). History of American Sculpture.
New York: The MacMillan Company. p. 544.
Taft, Lorado (1921). Modern Tendencies in Sculpture. University of Chicago Press. p. 152.
Weller, Allen Stuart, Lorado in Paris the Letters of
Lorado Taft 18801885, University of Illinois Press,
Urbana Illinois 1985.
Weller, Allen Stuart, Lorado Taft: The Chicago
Years, edited by Robert G. La France, Henry
Adams, and Stephen Thomas, Urbana: University
of Illinois Press, 2014.

External links
Works by or about Lorado Taft at Internet Archive
Lorado Taft Papers, 1857-1953 University of Illinois Archives
The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries: Archives Collection: Lorado Taft Collection, 1908-1938
Descriptions and photographs of two works Defense
of the Flag memorial and William A Foote memorial
American Art American City: Lorado Taft Arbeat Chicago segment on WTTW's Chicago Tonight,
May 15, 2008
Texts on Wikisource:
"Taft, Lorado". Appletons Cyclopdia of
American Biography. 1889.
"Taft, Lorado". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
"Taft, Lorado". The New Students Reference
Work. 1914.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Lorado Taft Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorado_Taft?oldid=709393720 Contributors: Shsilver, SimonP, Infrogmation,

Dinopup, Jasenlee, OldakQuill, Jaguara, D6, Carptrash, Bender235, Capybara, SteinbDJ, Pol098, Mandarax, Grammarbot, Rjwilmsi,
Lockley, The wub, Lar, Doncram, Black Falcon, HalloweenHJB, Kranar drogin, SmackBot, M dorothy, Ohnoitsjamie, Chris the speller,
Bluebot, DStoykov, NovakFreek, Colonies Chris, Smallbones, Downwards, Drchandler, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Gloriamarie, John, GVP
Webmaster, PRRfan, Interlingua, Kvng, Iridescent, Woodshed, Cydebot, TonyTheTiger, Missvain, RobotG, Jjacobsmeyer, .anacondabot,
IvoShandor, Fconaway, Jekw, HughD, PlaysInPeoria, PDFbot, Strangerer, Enkyo2, Polbot, Johntb17, PixelBot, Doprendek, Another
Believer, XLinkBot, Addbot, Rojypala, Luckas-bot, Yobot, BoringHistoryGuy, AnomieBOT, Auranor, Glenfarclas, Bob Burkhardt, MakeBelieveMonster, Genaria07, Omnipaedista, 11worthhistory, 78.26, Green Cardamom, Iowaway, Citation bot 1, Rinasciamento1, Jwbirks,
Diannaa, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, RjwilmsiBot, Ripchip Bot, Look2See1, SecretName101, ZroBot, PBS-AWB, Poop sandwich, Tricia
Gilson, ClueBot NG, Mdy66, Mogism, VIAFbot, KXF, Monkbot, IntriguingStar, KasparBot, Oanab906 and Anonymous: 31

7.2

Images

File:Chicago,_Illinois_Eternal_Silence1_crop.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Chicago%2C_
Illinois_Eternal_Silence1_crop.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors:
Chicago,_Illinois_Eternal_Silence1.jpg Original artist: Chicago,_Illinois_Eternal_Silence1.jpg: IvoShandor
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Lincoln_by_Taft.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Lincoln_by_Taft.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Daniel Schwen
File:Louisiana_State_Capitol_scuptured_figures.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Louisiana_
State_Capitol_scuptured_figures.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Flickr: louisiana state capitol 5 (state) Original artist: Jerey
Schwartz
File:Panorama_of_the_Fountain_of_Time.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Panorama_of_the_
Fountain_of_Time.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia Original artist:
Photograph: Conrad Lee
File:Recordingangel2.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Recordingangel2.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Veever
File:Taft_at_work_on_Fountain_of_Time.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Taft_at_work_on_
Fountain_of_Time.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's National Digital Library Program under the digital ID ichicdn.n060199.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.

Original artist: Chicago Daily News

File:UIUC_20071006_img_2247.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/UIUC_20071006_img_2247.jpg
License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dori

7.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0