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Davida Johnson Clark

1886
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 766
This graceful portrait was a gift from Saint-Gaudens to Davida Johnson Clark (1861–1910), his longtime model and lover, and the mother of his second son, Louis. The private token of affection also served as a preparatory study for the head of Diana on the tower of Madison Square Garden, the most public of Saint-Gaudens’s outdoor sculptures. Her classic features—an aquiline nose and incised pupils—represent his ideal of female beauty. An over life-size cast of Diana (28.101) is a centerpiece of the American Wing’s Charles Engelhard Court.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Davida Johnson Clark
  • Artist: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
  • Date: 1886
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Plaster, shellac
  • Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (26.7 x 16.5 x 16.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Gift of Alice and Evelyn Blight and Mrs. William Payne Thompson, by exchange, 2003
  • Object Number: 2003.303
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Amor Caritas, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, gilt, American
Amor Caritas
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1880–98, cast 1918
Diana, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, gilt, American
Diana
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Preissmann Bauer & Co.
1892–93, cast 1928
Louise Adele Dickerson Gould, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
Louise Adele Dickerson Gould
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1894, carved 1895
Bessie Springs Smith White (Mrs. Stanford White), Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
Bessie Springs Smith White (Mrs. Stanford White)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1884, carved by 1888
Diana, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
Diana
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
E. Gruet
1893–94, cast 1894 or after

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