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PARK AND CEMETERY. 
CEMETERY MEMORIAL OF RARELY ARTISTIC TYPE 
Seldom in the history of American mon- 
umental art has a finer type of sculptural 
expression been conceived as a private 
cemetery memorial than is to be seen in the 
Hixon memorial in Oak Grove Cemetery, 
La Crosse, Wis. 
This beautiful work, executed by Leon- 
ard Crunelle, the Chicago sculptor, em- 
bodies a sculptured group typifying Moth- 
erhood. The benign, watchful presence of 
the Mother, and graceful, appealing types 
of Children, wrought into a group of sim- 
ple and impressive proportions, cannot fail 
to carry a message to the most casual and 
unlearned observer. The beauty and dig- 
nity of family ties have seldom been more 
happily expressed in art. 
Every aspect and accessory detail of this 
monument and its surroundings have been 
studied with a care and a fine sense of 
harmony that is rarely found even in a 
public monument of national importance. 
The massive granite tablet that forms the 
background and pedestal blends harmoni- 
ously with the lines of the sculptured 
group, and the entire monument blends 
just as naturally into its setting in the 
landscape. The architectural portions of 
the memorial were designed by Pond & 
Pond, architects, of Chicago, and the land- 
scape setting, the planting and improve- 
ment of the lot was designed by Phelps 
Wyman, the landscape architect of Min- 
neapolis. 
The fine old oak that forms a protect- 
ing canopy fits well with the simple dig- 
nity of the monumental outline, and the 
evergreens behind throw the memorial into 
strong relief. 
HIXON MEMORIAL, LA CROSSE, WIS. 
Leonard Crunelle, sculptor; Pond & Pond, architects. 
LOT AND SURROUNDINGS OF HIXON MEMORIAL, LA CROSSE, WIS. 
Planned by Phelps Wyman, landscape architect. 
Lorado Taft, the well-known Chicago 
sculptor, who watched the progress of the 
work in the sculptor’s studio, says of it; 
“I thought as I watched the artist’s pa- 
tient, conscientious efforts toward perfec- 
tion, and I still think that nothing more 
beautiful than this group has come from 
an American sculptor’s studio within the 
last ten years. His group has a fine 
compactness, a sculptural simplicity of mass 
worthy of the best period; while within 
its almost austere contours is a wealth of 
light and shade.” 
The lot on which this memorial stands 
is 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep, facing 
an important drive, and our photograph 
of the surroundings of the memorial indi- 
cates with what care the landscape archi- 
tect has made the planting and surround- 
ings add to the effectiveness of the me- 
morial. At the entrance to the lot from 
the drive are two granite seats which are 
a part of the monumental composition. 
The granite work of the memorial was 
cut by Barclay Bros., of Barre, Vt., and 
the bronze group cast by the American Art 
Bronze Foundry, of Chicago. 
