John Ruskin

Gutzon Borglum

Bronze

15 x 22 inches

Formerly collection, Rhode Island School of Design; currently in Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to Judith Tolnick, Gutzon Borglum extolled John Ruskin as "the most marvelous, magnificent, unappreciated genius the world has ever known." The statuette of Ruskin is based on sketches that Borglum created during his stay in London, ca. 1893 through 1902. It was completed in bronze in 1904. . . . The pensive pose of the subject is remarkably similar to those of ancient Greek figures of philosophers who hold scrolls in one hand and unusually support their bearded chins with the other. A European tradition contemporary to Borglum used the ancient pose to depict famous men of the Fine Arts. [p. 111]