The Smith Memorial: John B. Gest, Esq., (sculpture).

The Smith Memorial: John B. Gest, Esq., (sculpture).

Grafly, Charles, 1862-1929, sculptor.

Windrim, James H., 1840-1919, architect.

Windrim, John T., architect.

Calder, Alexander Stirling, 1870-1945, sculptor.

Bureau Brothers, founder.

The Smith Memorial: John B. Gest, Esq., (sculpture).

John B. Gest, Esq., (sculpture).

Commissioned Feb. 1899. 1900.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: stone.

Sculpture: approx. 3 x 2 x 2 ft.; Base: approx. 4.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 ft.

(Sculpture, under proper left shoulder, near metal base:) CHARLES GRAFLY 1900 (Sculpture, under proper right shoulder:) BUREAU BROS. (Sculpture, front, metal base below bust:) JOHN B. GEST (Stone base:) GEST signed Founder's mark appears.

The Smith Memorial stands at the entrance to the west side of Fairmount Park and consists of two curving, neobaroque arches adorned with thirteen individual portrait sculptures (2 equestrians, 3 figures, and 8 busts); two eagles standing on globes; and architectural reliefs of 8 allegorical figures. The portrait of John B. Gest, president of Fidelity Insurance Trust and the executor of Richard Smith's will creating the Smith Memorial, is one of eight busts each installed in its own niche on the exterior of the arch. Gest, dressed in a coat and bow tie, is depicted with a full beard and moustache. He faces forward, but looks down to his proper right.

Portrait male -- Gest, John B. -- Bust

Occupation -- Monetary -- Banker

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Coadministered by City of Philadelphia, Fairmount Park Commission, Memorial Hall, West Park, P. O. Box 21601, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131

Coadministered by Fidelity Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Located Fairmount Park, West side of park, North Concourse Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Inscription on memorial reads: THIS/ MONUMENTAL MEMORIAL/ PRESENTED BY/ RICHARD SMITH/ TYPE FOUNDER/ OF PHILADELPHIA -/ IN MEMORY OF/ PENNSYLVANIANS WHO/ TOOK PART IN THE CIVIL WAR/ THEIR STRIFE WAS NOT FOR/ AGGRANDIZEMENT AND WHEN/ CONFLICT CEASED THE NORTH/ WITH THE SOUTH UNITED AGAIN/ TO ENJOY THE COMMON HERITAGE/ LEFT BY THE FATHERS OF OUR/ COUNTRY RESOLVING THAT/ THEREAFTER ALL OUR PEOPLE/ SHOULD DWELL TOGETHER/ IN UNITY.

In 1891, Richard Smith (1821-1894), a wealthy Philadelphia electroplate and type founder, created a will which provided $500,000 for a memorial arch to be adorned with portraits of Pennsylvania's Civil War military and naval heroes. Smith deposited the model and designs for the memorial with the Fidelity Insurance Trust and Safe Deposit Company and stipulated that John B. Gest, president of Fidelity, should handle his request; that the architectural designs and construction should be handled by Philadelphia architect James H. Windrim; and that the selection and supervision of sculptors for the specified portraits should be handled by the Fairmount Park Art Association. The will went into effect upon the death of Smith's wife in 1895,but it was not until 1897 that the Fairmount Park Art Association began work on selecting the sculptors. On May 8, 1898, the initial commissions were awarded, but it took until 1912 before the last sculpture was completed and installed on the arch. Originally John J. Boyle was selected to do the bust of John B. Gest, but when he disagreed with the Fairmount Park Art Association over what he was to be paid, he declined the commission. Charles Grafly was selected to do the bust of John B. Gest in February 1899.

For the eight portrait busts, the Fairmount Park Art Association decided that a uniform base was needed. The base designed by Alexander Stirling Calder for his bust of General Hartranft was chosen as the standard for all of the busts on the arch. In 1979, the sculpture of John B. Gest was temporarily placed in storage at Memorial Hall after it fell off of its base.

Public Monument Conservation Project, 1986.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 168-179.

Bach, Penny Balkin, "Public Art in Philadelphia," Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pg. 208.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 173.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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