March 15, 1987
By David M. Buchanan
Vigo County Historical Society
History in art
Plaster works tell us about past eras
This small figure is evocative of the Adams Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, located in the Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C. The Adams Memorial is a large, seated bronze figure with a massive stone background. It’s easy to imagine it treasured in a place of honor in some museum in the distant future.
The figure in this plaque has the same sense of brooding mystery as the Adams Memorial. It has the same flow of massed drapery that might signify swaddling clothes and birth or grave robes and death. Its face (though male rather than female) is also half hidden by the folds of the drape. But the Adams Memorial is of bronze and stone; this small figure is of cast plaster mounted on a wooden plaque. A few years ago it would have been hard to imagine it treasured in any museum.
Much of our historical knowledge of the past comes from the arts of the era. Plaster and art are two words that don’t seem to fit comfortably with each other. We equate art with permanence, like the bronze and stone of the Adams Memorial, yet without the use of plaster much of our art would not exist today.
Plaster has been used by mankind for centuries in the construction and decoration of its building and in its arts. Recently the art world was electrified by the news that a portion of the original plaster model used by Michaelangelo to create his marble David may have been found. Often such sculptures were used by the artists when selling their concepts to their patrons.
John Rogers used plaster to create his famous tableaus so popular in the late 1800s. These plaster groupings were either of famous people of the period or sentimental themes. Rogers was creating art for the masses. No longer was it just for the rich and royal.
They were relatively inexpensive because plaster sculpture did not require the same amount of work as the original. Artists did not have to carve stone or cast metal. Rather a small original was made, then a mold made of that original. Once the mold was available thousands were created simply by pouring the liquid plaster into the mold and waiting for it to dry. Roger’s mass-produced art became very popular and no truly well-appointed Victorian parlor was without one.
Plaster was not just used for small table models in the parlor. At times its use was also monumental. In the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 plaster was extensively used in the construction of the fair’s buildings and statues. Dubbed the White City, its pure white walls shimmered in the surroundings lagoons. The buildings in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915 were also constructed primarily of plaster. Such buildings were not designed for long-term use, only for the short life of the fairs.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City began a collection of plaster casts in 1883. By 1895 they had more than 2,000 replicas of the finest pieces of art from Western Civilization’s past. Patrons of the museum were able to see in one building centuries of mankind’s creations, something even the kings and queens of Europe couldn’t manage. Though the Metropolitan had one of the largest collections of plaster casts, other museums had similar plaster copies, as did the majority of colleges and high schools.
With the turn of this century America was becoming rich and powerful. Plaster casts weren’t enough. Museums wanted the real items; their patrons had the funds to purchase them; and the originals were coming onto the market. Plaster casts began to be relegated to storage bins and trash piles. By 1938 the Metropolitan’s were all in storage in an old New York warehouse. Dirty and deteriorating, they would remain there for over 30 years.
It’s not likely that plaster will ever replace metal or stone as an artist’s favorite form of creation, but it will probably remain popular as song as we create art. Small forms created by an artist, whether they be the small plaster model for Michaelangel’s David or the mysterious cloaked figure that is this week’s historical treasure, will remain in demand. It is also unlikely our architects and builders will stop using plaster in their designs and construction. It will be used not only in walls but in the creative visual elements of those walls. Though not permanent in character, plaster will continue to add to the beauty of the present and the knowledge of our past.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.