Lorado Taft

His 1903 book, The History of American Sculpture, was the first survey of the subject and stood for decades as the standard reference. Taft was the father of U.S. Representative Emily Taft Douglas, father-in-law to her husband, U.S. Senator Paul Douglas, and a distant relative of U.S. President William Howard Taft.

• Birth Name — Lorado Zadok Taft • Born — 29 April 1860 • Birthplace — Elmwood, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 30 October 1936 • Place of death — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Resting Place — Elmwood, Illinois, U.S. • Field — Sculpture • Relatives — * Emily Taft Douglas (daughter) • Paul Douglas (son-in-law) • Education — Beaux-Arts de Paris

• Illustration — Taft at work on Fountain of the Great Lakes in Lorado Taft Midway Studios in 1913 Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois. His parents were Don Carlos Taft and Mary Lucy Foster. His father was a professor of geology at the Illinois Industrial University (later renamed the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign). He lived much of his childhood at 601 E. John Street, Champaign, Illinois, near the center of the UIUC campus. The house, now known as the Taft House, was built by his father in 1873. It was purchased by the university in 1949 and moved about one mile southeast in 1981. After being homeschooled by his parents, Taft earned his bachelor's degree (1879) and master's degree (1880) at Illinois Industrial University. After his master's degree, he left for Paris to study sculpture, attending the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts from 1880 to 1883, where he studied with Augustin Dumont, Jean-Marie Bonnassieux, and Gabriel 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, Taft settled in Chicago. He taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago 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. • Illustration — The Recording Angel, 1923 In 1892, while the art community of Chicago was preparing for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, chief architect Daniel Burnham expressed concern to Taft that the sculptural adornments to the buildings might not be finished on time. Taft asked if he could employ some of his female students as assistants (it was not socially accepted 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", which included Enid Yandell, Carol Brooks MacNeil, Bessie Potter Vonnoh, Janet Scudder, Julia Bracken, and Ellen Rankin Copp. 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. At a meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota to decide which artist submission to select for a monument of Col. William Colvill to go in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda, the state art commission asked the opinion of Taft who was in the city at the time. While he did not recommend any of the models, he thought the model by Catherine Backus had points in its favor. Originally the commission favored the model by John K. Daniels but it was voted down. They then selected Backus' model to execute in a nine foot full-size bronze.

In 1898, Taft was a founding member of the Eagle's Nest Art Colony, which is currently a field and research campus for Northern Illinois University in Oregon, Illinois. Taft designed the Columbus Fountain at Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with Daniel Burnham. Taft was a member of the National Academy of Design, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters; he headed the National Sculpture Society in the 1920s, exhibiting at both their 1923 and 1929 shows, and he served on the Board of Art Advisors of Illinois. He served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1925 to 1929, and was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects. His papers reside in collections at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, the University of Illinois, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He maintained his connections with his alma mater throughout his life. (His association with the University is commemorated by a street named in his honor.) In 1929, he dedicated his sculpture Alma Mater on the University of Illinois campus. Taft envisioned his Alma Mater as a benign and magnificent woman, about 14 ft 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 figures behind her on either side represent the university's motto, Learning and Labor.

He received numerous awards, prizes, and honorary degrees. Taft was active until the end of his life. The week before he died, he attended the Quincy, Illinois, dedication ceremonies for his sculpture celebrating the Lincoln–Douglas debates. He died in his home studio in Chicago on October 30, 1936. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at Elmwood Cemetery near Bloomington, Illinois.

Taft may be best remembered for his various fountains. The University of Illinois Archives has a series of photographs of most of Taft's important works, including many of their construction and preliminary models. • Illustration — Fountain of Time (1910–1922), Midway Plaisance, Chicago, Illinois Following more than a dozen years of work, Taft's Fountain of Time was unveiled at the west end of Chicago's Midway Plaisance in 1922. Based on poet Austin Dobson's lines—"Time goes, you say? Ah no, Alas, time stays, we go." The fountain shows a cloaked figure of time observing the stream of humanity flowing past. • Illustration — The Patriots (1932), Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge The last major commission that Taft completed was two groups for the front entrance to the Louisiana State Capitol Building, dedicated in 1932. He left unfinished a vast work to be called the Fountain of Creation which he planned to place at the opposite end of the Chicago Midway to the Fountain of Time. Parts of this work were donated to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and are now at the library and Foellinger Auditorium. The University named a dormitory and a street in Taft's honor. In 1965, his Chicago workplace at 6016 S. Ingleside Avenue (he moved there in 1906, when the building consisted merely of a brick barn) was designated a National Historic Landmark as Lorado Taft Midway Studios.

• The Pioneers, Elmwood, Illinois, 1928 • Illustration — Lincoln the Lawyer (1929), Urbana, Illinois • Illustration — Eternal Silence (1909), Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois • LaFayette Fountain, Lafayette, Indiana, 1887 • Schuyler Colfax, University Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1887 • Statue of George Washington, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1905–1909. Created for the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition. • Eternal Silence, Graves Memorial, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, 1909 • Chief Paduke Statue, Jefferson Street, Paducah, Kentucky, 1909 • Black Hawk Statue Monument, aka Eternal Indian, Oregon, Illinois, 1911 • The Solitude of the Soul, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1911–1914 • Columbus Fountain, in front of Washington Union Station, Washington, D.C., 1912 • 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 • Annie Louise Keller Memorial, White Hall, Illinois, 1929 • Alma Mater, University of Illinois, 1929 • Frances Elizabeth Willard (plaque), Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1929 • The Crusader, Lawson Monument, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, 1931 • Two Groups: The Pioneers and The Patriots, Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1932 • 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, 1936–1941. Completed by Leonard Crunelle, Nellie Walker and Fred Torrey following Taft's 1936 death. • Trotter Fountain, Bloomington, Illinois, 1911

Lorado Taft was born on 29 April 1860 in Elmwood. Taft held the nationality of United States. Taft was educated at Beaux-Arts de Paris and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Recorded father: Don Carlos Taft. Recorded child: Emily Taft Douglas. Recorded sibling: Zulime Taft. Taft worked as sculptor, writer and art historian. Taft worked in United States. Taft was employed by University of Chicago. Taft died on 30 October 1936 in Chicago. Taft is buried at Elmwood Township Cemetery.

* * * * * * * * • Kvaran, Einar Einarsson. Architectural Sculpture of America (unpublished manuscript) * * * * * * * *