The Creator of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Park Essay

He became a artist/sculptor because he wanted to be famous, He was

This was not addressed when Mount Rushmore was constructed, and because of this the monument is tainted from its original purpose of honoring former United States presidents. “It is bad enough that white men drove the Sioux from hills they still hold sacred; did they have to carve faces all over them too?” Source C questions, enlightening the reader on the blemished past of Mount Rushmore, and how the placement of such a monument is wholly disrespectful (Source C). The planners of Mount Rushmore failed to recognize the faux pas of defacing the land of people who were disregarded by those to whom this monument is dedicated. Though a group may deem a historical figure or event as worthy for memorialization, when monuments are constructed paying no heed to placement, the original gesture can often be in

Shape: The monument had a V-shape and each wing of the V was about 250 feet long. The walls of the V ascended with the hill it was built on until the highest point was 10

The first statue, “Discovery of America” shows Cristopher Colombus holding the world in his right hand. He stands sternly as a Native American looks at him as if deciding wether to trust him or not. Horatio Greenough’s “Rescue” depicts an American family from the frontier encountering an American Indian. The “savage” is attempting to attack the family members, but the father is able to dominate him and keep him from doing so. Both statues were placed in the east façade of the US Capitol building in Washington D.C. and received heavy criticism from the American public due to their political message. However, once construction for the extension of the Capitol building began, both statues were removed and were not returned to their former space. Both sculptures carried negative and misinformed messages about the American Indian population, placing them as if they were “savages” and not at all human. Their disappearance from the façade of the Capitol is the United States’ government accepting a brutal and inhumane past, and attempting to remedy the relationship with American Indians at the time.

Painted from 1770-1773 The Peale Family consisted of nine of the Peale family members and their “faithful nurse” (Strickland 72). Willson himself is in the back left holding a palette and painting on an easel that says “Concordia Animae,” which means, harmony of souls. The unique composition of The Peale Family shows “the essential unity of the group” (Strickland 72). Connected by the hand and shoulder contact, the people in this painting seem to overlap, showing the concept of E Pluribus Unum. Popular in the 1800’s to the early 1900’s the style of conversation was used in this painting (Strickland 72). The clearness, crispness and realism represented in The Peale Family, demonstrated the classical nature of Peale’s work. Although some of his other works contain a more heroic and classical theme, they still convey the same styles. Being the first to paint a portrait of George Washington, and also painting portraits of 40 different officers from Valley Forge, Peale was known to have painted very “outstanding American leaders” (Encyclopedia of World Biography). As he painted in his classical style, Willson Peale established a name for himself that would be remembered for centuries.

It started as an idea to draw sightseers, but in 1923 state historian Doane Robinson suggested carving some giant statues in South Dakota's Black Hills. Robinson was not the first American to think that a big country demanded big art. As early as 1849, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton proposed a super-scale Christopher Columbus in the Rocky Mountains (1). In 1886 the 150-foot Statue of Liberty was unveiled. In the 1920's, an unconventional sculptor named Gutzon Borglum was carving a Confederate memorial on Stone Mountain in Georgia. Robinson wanted his sculptures to stand at the gateway to the west, where the Black Hills rise from the plains as a geographical prelude to the Rocky Mountains. Here, the granite outcropping resist erosion to form the Needles, a cluster of tall, needle-like peaks reminiscent of the spires on a Gothic cathedral.

Lets take a trip back in time to 1884 in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A New York lawyer had just traveled there to inspect mining claims in that region. The man 's name was Charles E. Rushmore. Rushmore was curious by one of the mountains and asked a towns person what the name of the mountain was. The towns person replied saying it had no name. From then on Charles Rushmore started calling it Rushmore Peak. Over time it became known as Mount Rushmore (history.com). During the following years the area of the Black Hills decided they wanted to start attracting tourist the region. I the early 1920s the state historian of South Dakota, Doane Robinson, came up with an idea to attract tourist. He thought of the idea to to carve famous historic heroes of the west into the side of the mountain (history.com). In 1924, Robinson decided to contact the famous American sculptor, Gutzon Borgium, about his idea. Borgium at the time was working on another project for Georgia, but Robinson was able to convince him to abandon his project and come

However, Gutzon Borglum rejected that location and chose Mount Rushmore because of its better granite and facing southeast into the sun. Borglum wanted a national focus and settled on four presidents representing the first 130 years and the expansion of the United States. Construction began in October of 1927 and ended in October of 1941 with a crew of 400 workers. The original design was for the carvings to be from head to waist but after the death of Gutzon Borglum in 1941, his son Lincoln said the sculpture was fine just the way it stands. Only some finish work on the structure was accomplished before it was declared complete. Even with all the dangerous carving and blasting not one fatality occurred at Mount Rushmore while it was being created. Annually two million visitors come to Mount Rushmore to view its magnificent tribute as the Shrine of Democracy.

Peale became known for his portraits of Revolutionary War leaders. He painted close to sixty portraits of the first American president, George Washington, including the well-known George Washington Before the Battle of Princeton (1781). He also depicted such notable citizens as Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), painted in 1789; Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), painted in 1791; and John Adams (1735-1826), painted around 1791-94. Peale’s portraits were exhibited at his Philadelphia museum, making an important statement of national pride. Most later became part of the collection of Independence National Historical

In honor of this man, the people made a statue of him. An artist from New Jersey named Brian Hanlon created it. The statue was

The Washington Monument used to be the tallest tower in the world. It has iconic structures and it is honoring to the man known as the father of his country. It shows the importance of him for the Americans that even the country has racked up scores of tributes, cities, highways, lakes, mountains, schools and an entire state have been named in his honour. He even got multiple monuments in his name. The Washington Monument, monumental obelisk was worked to respect George Washington, America's first president and stands today as the world's tallest detached stone structure. An unmistakable change in the shade of the stones can be seen around thirty-three percent of the path up the landmark; the somewhat darker stones at the base were put before

While many artists work off of inspiration, John Trumbull was no exception finding his inspiration from Thomas Jefferson’s sketch of the first presentation of the Declaration of Independence . The overall painting combined with the foundational component of Jefferson’s sketch communicates a revered moment, within a room of dominance over Britain, in witness of only the most powerful and important people of America . An overall depicted mood can be derived as reverencing, as shown by the men’s prominent stances, high profile facial expressions, and the importance of the newly proposed document itself. The painting was commissioned between August of 1817 and September of 1818, hung months later on October 5, 1818 . The hanging of this painting

The iconic imagery of George Washington is present in various aspects of everyday life to the average American citizen; his portraits are displayed in government buildings, museums, a mountainside, and even loose pocket change. In a sense, his image has become a pseudo-allegorical figure representing the stability and power of the United States. Although the humble Washington has been documented as discontent with the act of sitting for artists, he patiently allowed hundreds of painters and sculptures to capture his likeness throughout his lifetime. None more frequent than the prominent renaissance-man and close friend, Charles Willson Peale and his family of artistic prodigies. Therefore, on account of his father’s status and success, Rembrandt

PBS describes the story this way: "The story of Mount Rushmore's creation is as bizarre and wonderful as the monument itself. It is the tale of a hyperactive, temperamental artist whose talent and determination propelled the project, even as his ego and obsession threatened to tear it apart. It is the story of hucksterism and hyperbole, of a massive public works project in the midst of an economic depression."

While researching and reading about the history of the memorial, I found interesting things that stood out. An example of this was the story behind the structural design. The architecture of the chamber inside the memorial means something itself. Different stones from different states were used in the creation of the chamber. According to the “DC Pages”, “The terrace walls and lower steps consisted of granite blocks from Massachusetts, the upper steps, outside front wall, and columns contained marble blocks from Colorado-the interior walls and columns were Indiana limestone, the floor was pink marble from Tennessee-the ceiling tiles were made up of Alabama marble, and the Lincoln statue encompassed 28 pieces of marble from Georgia”. The structure of the memorial was built on different marble stones to signify what Abraham Lincoln stood for. Henry Bacon who was behind the design of the memorial chose these stones to tell a story. The stones symbolized that although a country was torn apart by war and hatred, it can still come together to build something as significant as the memorial. The stones explain the reunification of the states. The memorial not