The Spirit of Life

Artist Daniel Chester French (American, 1850-1931)

Manufacturer Roman Bronze Works (American)

CultureAmerican

Datemodeled 1914

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 49 1/2 x 33 1/2 x 27 in. (125.7 x 85.1 x 68.6 cm)

InscribedInscribed on the base: D C FRENCH; May 1914; ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N.Y.

Credit LineGift of The Imperial Recreation Club for Men of the Service

Object number26.4.1

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 220

DescriptionThis is a bronze statue blending Greek mythology and local geography into a tribute to a man named Spencer Trask. He was a wealthy man who did much to benefit the town of Saratoga Springs in New York. The statue is of the Greek goddess of health, Hygeia. She is standing tall, draped with swirling cloth, fitted with wings and standing on a rock, out of which a spring is flowing (Saratoga Springs). Her arms are raised, the left hand holds the bowl of life-giving water and the right a twig from a pine that grows in Saratoga Springs.

Label TextDaniel Chester French American, 1850–1931 The Spirit of Life, modeled 1914 Bronze cast by Roman Bronze Works, White Plains, New York Hygeia, the Greek goddess of health, holds a pine branch and shallow bowl in honor of the beautiful forests and curative waters of Saratoga Springs, New York. This bronze was designed as the centerpiece for a memorial to philanthropist Stephen Trask, a patron of that community. The final monument features a life-size figure, but sculptor Daniel Chester French also commissioned a limited number of reduced casts, including this work. Thanks to the Norfolk Society of Arts, it was purchased in 1926 and would become a founding gift to this Museum. Gift of the Imperial Recreation Club for Men of the Service 26.4.1 ProvenanceGift of The Imperial Recreation Club for Men of the Service to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences (to be transferred to the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk), 1926. Exhibition History"Hidden Treasures," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., November 26, 1985 - January 5, 1986. "Uncommon Spirit: Sculpture in America 1800-1940," Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, N.Y., April 22 - June 9, 1989, cat. no. 19. "Mercié in Context: The French Academic Tradition in American Public Sculpture," The Marsh Gallery, University of Richmond, Va., October 19 - November 7, 1990. Published ReferencesSusan E. Menconi, _Uncommon Spirit: Sculpture in America 1800-1940_, exh. cat., Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, 1989, 34-35. ISBN: 0915057298 Joseph T. Knox, _Antonin Mercié in Context: The French Academic Tradition in American Public Sculpture_, exh. cat., The French Institute, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, Va., 1990, 15, fig. 14. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 141, no. 88. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6