Gazing down into the distance, Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State seems lost in thought. This bronze statue stands tall in Grant Park. It is also called Seated Lincoln or Sitting Lincoln. The statue is nine feet tall. Augustus Saint-Gaudens created it. His workshop finished it in 1908.
Saint-Gaudens wanted to show Lincoln’s loneliness. He wanted to show the burden Lincoln felt during his presidency. The statue shows Lincoln sitting in a chair. He looks contemplative.
The Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State statue sits on a pedestal. A 150-foot-wide exedra surrounds it. Architect Stanford White designed this space. While not as famous as Saint-Gaudens’ Standing Lincoln, it is still remarkable. The sculptor put years of effort into capturing Lincoln’s somber mood.
Before arriving in Grant Park in 1926, the statue traveled. It was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It also appeared at the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1915. The area of Grant Park where it stands is named the Court of Presidents. But Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State is the only monument there so far.
Fun fact: The statue’s head was used on a postage stamp. It commemorated the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth in 1909.
Businessman John Crerar left money for a library and a Lincoln statue. Saint-Gaudens was hired to create it in 1897. He finished a model, but a fire destroyed it in 1904. He made another version ready for casting in 1906.
Daniel H Burnham wanted the statue near a new Field Museum in Grant Park. But Aaron Montgomery Ward sued to protect the park. The statue was stored for years. It was first at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Then it was in a building in Washington Park.
In 1924, a site was chosen in Grant Park. On May 31, 1926, the Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State statue was finally unveiled. The Seated Lincoln stands as a reminder of a great leader’s burden. It also stands as the only monument in the Court of Presidents, a solitary tribute.