Robert Merrell Gage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Merrell Gage (December 26, 1892 – October 30, 1981) was an American sculptor, frequently credited or referred to as Merrell Gage.

Biography[]

Gage was born in Topeka, Kansas and studied in the Topeka public schools and at Washburn University. He worked on ranches in the Midwest before settling on an art career.[1] He studied art in New York and France and worked in the studio of Gutzon Borglum as an assistant. In 1916, he set up a sculpture studio in a barn behind his house in Topeka. His first public commission was for a statue of Abraham Lincoln that is now on the grounds of the Kansas State Capitol.

He married Marian Gage, a painter, shortly after World War I when he was in the medical corps and lived in Kansas City.[2] He began teaching sculpture at Washburn and at the Kansas City Art Institute.[3] They moved to Los Angeles from New York in 1924 and built a studio in their home in the Santa Monica Canyon.[2] He was appointed professor of sculpture at the University of Southern California and rose to the head of the department. Gage's mother and sister lived in La Jolla, San Diego, California.[4] His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.[5]

Academy Award Winning Short Film[]

Gage executed likenesses of Lincoln in many stages of the president's life. In 1955 Gage starred in a short film The Face of Lincoln, in which he modeled Lincoln's features while narrating the story of his life.[6] The film, produced by Wilber T. Blume, won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.[7] Gage executed numerous commissions in the Los Angeles area and served on the sculpture commission for the 1936 Olympics.[4] His film was nominated for Academy Awards in 1962.

Works[]

  • seated Lincoln on the Kansas State Capitol grounds in Topeka, ca. (1915)
  • American Legion Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, (1921)
  • Police Monument, Kansas City, Missouri, ( 1921)
  • Electric Fountain in Beverly Hills[8] (1931)
  • the Edison Building, Los Angeles, California, (1931)
  • Facade of the Los Angeles Times Building, (1935)
  • Pioneer Mother Memorial on the Kansas State Capitol grounds, (1937)
  • the Allan J. Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, (1940)
  • Bust of Sherman Minton at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, (1956)
  • head of Abraham Lincoln 110 Grand Avenue, Los Angeles [9] (1961)
  • many schools and churches

References[]

  1. ^ AskART page, undated, retrieved on 2008-07-05.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Stewart. Virginia, (1957, September 8). "An ability for interpretation" The Los Angeles Times, p. M22. Retrieved June 23, 2008
  3. ^ Biography Kansas State Historical Society "Robert Merrell Gage page" undated, retrieved on 2008-07-05.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Kamerling, Bruce (Summer 1989). "Early Sculpture and Sculptors in San Diego". The Journal of San Diego History. 35 (3). Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  5. ^ "Robert Merrell Gage". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. ^ Los Angeles County Arts Commission "Stanley Mosk Courthouse", undated, retrieved on 2008-07-05.
  7. ^ Merrell Gage papers, 1911–1982 at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, retrieved on 2008-07-05.
  8. ^ Public Art and Sculptures in Greater Los Angeles "Electric Fountain" (history and images) undated, retrieved on 2008-07-05.
  9. ^ Los Angeles sculpture + photo gallery, undated, retrieved on 2008-07-05.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""