South portico of the Museum of Science and Industry, showing the figures symbolic of the four cardinal directions, flanked by identical 

 winged figures. The winged figures were probably done by Hering as well (see also top photo, p 25) All are in limestone, 



Hering also did a memorial plaque for Chicago's 

 John Crerar Library and a number of privately com- 

 missioned busts or portrait reliefs of well known Chica- 

 goans, notably of architects Ernest B. Graham and 

 Peirce Anderson (both were partners in the firm which 

 designed Field Museum), and of former Field Museum 

 director Frederick J. Skiff. When the nation was still 

 on the gold standard, Hering's work could be seen on 

 the $10 and $20 gold pieces minted between 1907 and 

 1933. As in the case of the Lincoln statue, Saint- 

 Gaudens is credited with designing these coins, though 

 it was Hering who did much of the fine modelling. The 

 $20 gold piece, or "double eagle," is commonly re- 

 garded as the most beautiful U.S. coin ever minted. 



Outside of Chicago, Hering's most notable work 

 includes statues of Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow 

 Wilson in Indianapolis; a Civil War memorial at Yale 



University; heroic bridge pylon figures, statuary for the 

 Federal Reserve Bank, and pediment figures for Sever- 

 ance Hall, all in Cleveland. A complete catalog of 

 Hering's statues, busts, portrait reliefs, medals, and 

 other types could be one of the most extensive in the 

 history of sculpture. But Henry Hering's name is not to 

 be found in standard texts on American art; even 

 sculpture buffs in Chicago, where he is best repre- 

 sented, are likely to draw a blank if his name is men- 

 tioned. Perhaps that is the fate common to those whose 

 work is in a traditional vein. 



Among Hering's champions, however, was Met- 

 ropolitan Museum of Art curator Charles Over Corne- 

 lius, who wrote at length about Hering's Field Museum 

 work in the November 1918 Architectural Record: 



The whole group [of figures] is characterized by the 

 eminent dignity and restraint which run throughout all of 21 



