New Gallery & Atrium

New Gallery & Atrium

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Cornish, NH

Significance:

Galleries display a selection of the largest collection of the artwork by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The New Gallery Complex is also the only structure built by the Saint-Gaudens Memorial – one of the earliest efforts in the United States to memorialize and promote an artist’s legacy

Designation:

National Park, National Register of Historic Places, National Landmark

From the cameos that launched the artist’s career to the gold coins that were minted after his death, the New Gallery & Atrium showcase a variety of artwork by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907). 

The New Gallery contains plaster versions of the Puritan, “Seated Lincoln”, and Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial along with rotating works by the sculptor and his assistants. Outside of the New Gallery, visit the Atrium to view many of the portrait reliefs that Saint-Gaudens created of family, friends, and clients. The glimmering image of his gilded relief, Amor Caritas, reflects in a pool at the center of this three-sided, open-air gallery and garden. Nearby, the Picture Gallery holds rotating contemporary art exhibits.

This complex replaced the Studio of the Caryatids after an electrical fire destroyed Saint-Gaudens’ former working studio in 1944. The foundation was covered over, and in 1948, two remaining outbuildings were refurbished to serve as exhibition galleries. Architect John Ames designed a Roman Style atrium connecting the two buildings to fit in the classical architectural elements that Saint-Gaudens created on the property. This is the only structure built by the Saint-Gaudens Memorial – the foundation formed by members of the Saint-Gaudens family to continue the sculptor’s legacy.

The New Gallery and Atrium are open seasonally.