Chicago - Near North Side / Pioneer Court / Bust of Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable - by Erik Blome

Jean-Baptiste Pointe SuSable

Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable

Sculptor: Erik Blome

Installed: 2009

Location: Pioneer Court

Chicago North / The Young Lincoln (1945) - by Charles Keck

 

The Young Lincoln - by Charles Keck

1945 

 Bronze / 13-foot tall

Location: Senn (Nicholas) Park /

Triangular corner between N. Ridge Ave., N Clark Street and W. Thorndale Ave.

The Chicago Park District website informs... Keck's family donated the Young Lincoln to the G.A.R. collection of Chicago Public Library, which is now the Chicago Cultural Center. In 1997, the Chicago Public Library loaned the monument to the Chicago Park District to allow its installation in Senn Park on the city's North Side.

Chicago North / The Chicago Lincoln (1956) - by Avard Fairbanks

 

The Chicago Lincoln - by Avard Fairbanks

1956 / Bronze

Location: Lincoln Square / Lawrence and Western Avenue

Monument was erected by the Illinois Lincoln Memorial Committee

Chicago South / Chicago State University / I have A Dream (1978) - by Abbott Pattison

I have A Dream - by Abbott Pattison

1978

Location: Chicago State University

B.F. Ferguson Monument Fund

Chicago South / Gwendolyn Brooks (2018) - by Margot McMahon

 

Gwendolyn Brooks - The Oracle of Bronzeville 

- by Margot McMahon

2018 

A bronze sculptural bust is accompanied by a porch modeled after the poet's childhood writing spot, a path of stepping-stones that are etched with quotations from Annie Allen and a stone circle.

Location: Gwendolyn Brooks Park / 4542 S Greenwood Avenue, Chicago

The Brooks Park was formerly known as the Hyacinth Park and is located in the Kenwood community. It was renamed as Gwindolyn Brooks in 2004 as part of an effort by the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners to recognize the contributions of Chicago women. The park is less than a mile away from her childhood home at 4332 S Champlain.

Chicago South - Steelworkers Park / Tribute to the Past (2015) - by Roman Villarreal

 Tribute to the Past - by Roman Villarreal

2015

Location: Steelworkers Park 

 87th street and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago

Chicago South / Drexel Fountain (1882) - by Henry Manger

Drexel Fountain - by Henry Manger

Drexel Fountain - by Henry Manger

1881-82 / Restored

Bronze

Believed to be one of the earliest monuments in the city.

The four-sided statue is decorated with Neptune and harvest Goddess figure.

Donated by Drexel brothers - Francis Drexel and Anthony Drexel - in memory of their father Francis M. Drexel, whose life-size sculpture sits atop this fountain.

Commemorative Figural Sculptures of Lincoln Park



When it comes to commemorative sculptures, figural has it's place firmly established. No amount of abstraction, symbolism or minimalism can bring out the beauty and accuracy of a detailed figural sculpture. It can capture essence of one's character in one simple pose and immortalize it for ages to come! Personally, I love figural sculptures!!!

While talking about figural, Lincoln Park has a fair share of these beautiful bronzes. The most famous is the "Abraham Lincoln Monument" by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, which has been designated the status of a Chicago Landmark. But there are many others which are absolutely beautiful. My personal favorite is the Shakespeare Monument.

Chicago West - Garibaldi Park / Giuseppe Garibaldi - by Victor E. Gherardi

Giuseppi Garibaldi Monument - by Victor E. Gherardi

Giuseppe Garibaldi Monument - by Victor E. Gherardi

Installed 1901 / Relocated: 1982

Location: Garibaldi Park

West Polk Street and South Ashland Ave

The Giuseppe Garibaldi Monument in Chicago was commissioned by Legione Garibaldi - an Italian American organization.  The organization raised $ 12,000 to fund the statue in 1901. It was installed on the east side of Lincoln park, near Old Lake Shore Drive (now Cannon Drive). It has been relocated a number of times. It now sits in the Garibaldi Park in Chicago West side.

Chicago West - Humboldt Park / Leif Erikson Monument - by Sigvald Asbjornsen

Leif Erikson Monument - by Sigvald Asbjornsen

Leif Erikson Monument - by Sigvald Asbjornsen 

Installed: 1901 /  In 1950, the statue was moved 250 feet 

from its original location to face the Humboldt Boulevard

 9 ft high / bronze on granite

Location: Humboldt Park

The Leif Erikson statue was commissioned by Chicagoans of Norwegian descent. 

The staue was sculpted by Norweigian artist Sigvald Asbjornsen.

From the book, "A Guide to Chicago's Public Scul;ptures",

by Ira J. Bach and Mary Lackritz Gray..

Chicago's Norwegians donated this monument in 1901, 

as a celebration of the discovery of "Vinland", in about 1,000 AD.

Chicago West - Humboldt Park / Fritz Reuter Monument - by Franz Engelsman

Fritz Reuter Monument - by Franz Englsman

Fritz Reuter Monument - by Franz Engelsman

German novelist Fritz Reuter

Installed: 1893

 9-ft high / bronze

Location: Humboldt Park - Formal Garden

The Fritz Reuter Monument was commissioned by German Americans of Chicago. The statue honors the German writer and political martyr Fritz Reuter (1810 -1874)

Chicago West - Humboldt Park / Alexander von Humboldt Monument - by Felix Gorling

Alexander von Humboldt Monument

Alexander von Humboldt Monument - by Felix Gorling

1892

Bronze / 10-ft high 

Location: Humboldt Park

The statue of Alexander von Humboldt was commissioned by Francis J. Dewes, a German immigrant and brewer. The statue was created by German sculptor Felix Gorling.

From the book,"A Guide to Puiblic Art in Chicago"..

By Ira J. Bach and Mary Lackritz Gray..

Alexander von Humboldt is portrayed here, 10 ft high and in bronze, holding a book representing his publication, Cosmos. Also represented are a globe and iguana., symbolozing his travels and the role his descriptions played in the establishment of the sciences of physical geography and geophysics., and the charts of which Humboldt set down the temperatures of the Pacific Ocean current named after him..

Chicago West / Jacques Marquette Memorial (1926) - by Hermon Atkins MacNeil

Jacques Marquette Memorial

Jacques Marquette Memorial

By Hermon Atkins MacNeil

1926

Location: Intersection of Marshall Bouleward and 24th Street

Chicago, IL

Funded by the B.F. Ferguson Monument Fund

The words etched are..

This memorial erected by the trustees of the B.F.Ferguson Monument Fund to commemorate the discoveries and sacrifieces of the missionary Pere Marquette.

Dedicated MCMXXVI

Chicago West - Garfield Park / Lincoln, The Railsplitter (1911) - by Charles J. Mulligan

Lincoln, the Railsplitter

Lincoln, The Railsplitter - by Charles J. Mulligan

1911

Location: Garfield Park /

Northwest corner of Washington and Central Park Blvd.

The sculpture was commissioned by the West Park Commission, which was a precursor to the Chacago Park District. 

The sculpture "Lincoln, the Railsplitter" depicts a young Abraham Lincoln, who worked hard to rise from humble beginnings to become a great president.

The sculptor Charles Mulligan was an Irish immigrant who worked as a stone cutter before becoming an artist. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He also worked as an assistant in the Chicagho studio of Lorado Taft. Mulligan also created the William McKinley Monument. 

Chicago West - Garfield Park / Robert Burns Memorial - by William G. Stevenson

Robert Burns Memorial - by W. Grant Stevenson

Robert Burns - by W. Grant Stevenson

Dedicated: 1906 

The Memorial was dedicated by Governor Charles S. Deneen in 1906

Location: Garfield Park, 

Washington Blvd. between Cantral Park and Hamlin boulevards

The Robert Burns Memorial was commissioned by a Burns Memorial and Monument Association in 1906. The association was formed in 1880s. The association commissioned the statue from Edinburg sculptor William Grant Stevenson.  The sculpture was cast in bronze in Edinburgh, Scotland and is a gift of the Robert Burns Memorial Association. Robert Burns is Scotland's most revered poet.

Chicago West - Garfield Park Conservatory / Pastoral and Idyll - By Lorado Taft





Pastoral and Idyll - by Lorado Taft

1913 / Marble

Location: Garfield Park Conservatory

Lorado Taft originally crafted this pair of sculptures in plaster for the 1909 art exhibition in Garfield park Garden. in 1908 they were on temporary display in Humboldt Park Rose Garden.  The sculptural groups were so liked by the public that the West Park Board commissioned Lorado Taft to create a permanent marble version of them. 

Chicago South / Stephen A. Douglas Tomb - by Leonard W. Volk

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb

Architect: Leonard W. Volk

Year Built: 1881

Location: 35th Street and Cottage Grove Ave.

Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: September 28, 1977

Chicago South - Jackson Park / Statue of The Republic - by Daniel Chester French

Statue of the Reppublic

Statue of The Republic 

Sculptor: Daniel Chester French

Architect: Henry Bacon

Year Built: 1918

Description: 24-foot-high gilded bronze..

Location: Jackson Park.

at the intersection of Hayes & Richards Drives.

Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 4, 2003.

Commissioned by the B.F.Ferguson Monument Fund, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago and the Illinois statehood centennial..

Chicago South - Bronzeville / Monument to the Great Northern Migration (1996) - by Alison Saar

Monument to the Great Northern Migration

Monument to the Great Northern Migration

by: Alison Saar

Installed: 1996 

Description: Bronze  /Height: 15ft

Location: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. at 26 Pl 

Chicago - Near North Side / Benito Juarez sculpture - by Julian Martinez

Benito Juarez Monument - by Julian Martinez

Location: Plaza of the Americas on Michigan Avenue

between Realtor Building and Wrigley Building