Halloween in the Spring: A Series. John Hudson Hall Memorial, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

John Hudson Hall Memorial, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, NY. Photo taken by me.

NOTE: This series, "Halloween in the Spring," is based on the posts I wrote for my Halloween 2020 Take-Over of AHNCA's (Art Historians of Nineteenth Century Art) social media accounts. It's a jolly bit of writing and the inspiration for this blog. I've left the posts almost identical to the originals to preserve the rollicking tone; however, I've added links to the original sources, museum websites, or other information you, dear reader, might find interesting. Without further ado, it's time to celebrate Halloween in the springtime!

Sadly, we must leave Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and return to NYC. We are expected at Mr. Seabury Tredwell’s (1785-1865) funeral tomorrow morning. Mrs. Tredwell (1797-1882) invited us to join the family at the graveside at the New York City Marble Cemetery, followed by a light luncheon at the house on East 4th Street. We can’t disappoint the family.

Before we go, I want to show you this magnificent memorial for John Hudson Hall (1828-1910). Hall’s company manufactured paper and paper goods. He was also involved in the railroad business, becoming one of the developers of NYC’s elevated railroad system. Most importantly, he was a patron of the arts, as seen by this beautiful funerary sculpture by none other than Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907).

As many of you already know, Saint-Gaudens was an American sculptor who worked in the Beaux-Art Tradition. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and was brought to the US by his parents when he was only six months old. The family settled in NYC. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to cameo cutters — first to Louis Avet and then to Jules Le Brethon — while attending the Cooper Union in the evening. He enrolled in the National Academy of Design and then studied at the École des Beaux-Arts with François Jouffroy. Saint-Gaudens is best known for his interior decorative projects, portraits, and monuments. He was a founder of the National Sculpture Society and the American Academy in Rome.

"Amor Caritas," 1880-1898, cast 1918. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1918. 19.124

The subject of this funerary memorial, a winged caryatid with downturned eyes dressed in flowing Greek robes, is one that Saint-Gaudens repeated in a number of his works from the 1880s. A similar figure, "Amor Caritas," 1880-1898, can be found in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection. According to the MMA, these figures "also appear in the caryatids for the Vanderbilt mantelpiece and in several funerary works."

Memorial photo taken by author.
"Amor Caritas," 1880-1898, cast 1918. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1918. 19.124

Halloween in Spring. A Series: "The End of the Day's Work"

Karl Bitter, The Henry Villard Memorial, "The End of the Day's Work," 1905. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. 

NOTE: This series, "Halloween in the Spring," is based on the posts I wrote for my Halloween 2020 Take-Over of AHNCA's (Art Historians of Nineteenth Century Art) social media accounts. It's a jolly bit of writing and the inspiration for this blog. I've left the posts almost identical to the originals to preserve the rollicking tone; however, I've added links to the original sources, museum websites, or other information you, dear reader, might find interesting. Without further ado, it's time to celebrate Halloween in the springtime!

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was established in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery. The name was changed to honor Washington Irving’s dying request to rename the grounds. A number of notable New Yorkers are buried there, including members of the Astor, Rockefeller, and Carnegie families. Art lovers can visit the grave of Jasper Francis Crosby and marvel at the funerary art by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Karl Bitter.

The Henry Villard Memorial, "The End of the Day’s Work," 1905, by Karl Bitter (1867-1915) is a stunning example of funerary art. Tucked into the landscape, this bold design depicts a young blacksmith at rest. His body is limp and he stares heavenwards, indicating the contemplation at the end of one’s life. The symbolism of the blacksmith with his hammer and anvil relates to the occupation of the man who is interred here: Henry Villard (b. Ferninand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard (1825-1900).

Born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Villard emigrated to the US as a teenager and changed his name so that his parents couldn’t find him. Apparently, Villard’s liberal politics clashed with those of his conservative father. He soon became a newspaper journalist and covered the Civil War and the Austro-Prussian War for the Chicago Tribune. Villard was involved in the American railroad industry and became the president of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He also acquired the NY Evening Post and The Nation.

Karl Bitter (1867-1915) was born in Vienna and trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule and the Kunstakademie. He emigrated to the US in 1881, eventually establishing his own studio on 13th Street and his artistic reputation with the elite families of NYC. His many commissions included architectural sculptures, monuments, and funerary memorials like this one. In addition to his sculptural commissions, Bitter held prestigious positions in the National Sculpture Society, the Pan-American Exposition (1901), St. Louis Exposition (1904), and the Panama–Pacific International Exposition (1915).

Anthony22, photographer (full monument) at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12773432

ALL OTHER PHOTOS ARE MINE.