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Between Patrons And Populace: Danish-American Sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith And The Iowa Soldiers' And Sailors' Monument In Des Moines, Aase Bak
The Bridge
Carl Rohl-Smith (1848-1900) received one of his most important commissions in America with the "Iowa Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument" (completed 1897). But his position became difficult as he had to navigate between the different interests of patrons and general public.
"A Danish artist cannot imagine the hardships that being an artist in a foreign land entails. Most of the decisions concerning art are made by the populace." Thus wrote Danish journalist Henrik Cavling (1858-1933) in his travel book Fra Amerika (From America) from 1897.1 He was talking about the Danish-American sculptor Carl Rohl-Smith and the problems he encountered when he …