335 
PARK AND CC/nCTCRY. 
Memorial Bust of Thomas D. Gilbert, Grand 
Rapids, Michigan. 
Much interest was always manifested through- 
out the work connected with the memorial bust of 
the late Thomas D. Gilbert, a distinguished citizen 
of Grand Rapids, Mich. Such a career of useful- 
ness as that of Mr. Gilbert would place its exhibitor 
high on any roll of honor, and Grand Rapids is 
serving its generation well in perpetuating in so 
appropriate and 
excellent a man- 
ner the memory 
of so many years 
of able and effec- 
tive work in the 
cause of her pro- 
press. 
As the first 
• president of its 
Board of Public 
Works, member 
of its Common 
Council, member 
of the Board of 
P'ducation, Re- 
gent of the State 
U niversity, 
member of the 
Legislature, and 
many other pub- 
lic functions ex- 
tending over a 
term of thirty six 
years, at all times 
and in all things 
earning the re- 
spect of his fel- 
low citizens, it 
was to be expect- 
ed that the cer- 
emonies attend- 
ing the unveiling 
of a monument to 
his memory in 
Fulton Park 
would be enter- 
tained as quite 
an occasion by 
the enterprising city. That it was so, goes without 
saying, and many distinguished men of the state 
gathered with the multitude to pay honor to depart- 
ed worth. 
As will be seen by the illustration the setting of 
the monument is very effective, and exceedingly 
appropriate, from the fact that Mr. Gilbert himself 
had prepared the lawn and planted most of the trees 
THE GILBERT MEMORIAL, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH 
in Fulton Park, and its location brings it in view of 
numbers of people pursuing the ordinary avocation, 
of life. 
The memorial consists of a bronze bust mount- 
ed upon a polished pedestal of Westerly granites 
from the Smith Granite Co., Westerly, R. I. The 
base is 5 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 9 inches and the 
total height to top of bust is fifteen feet. The ped- 
estal weighs in the neighborhood of 18,500 pounds. 
The bust, mod- 
deled by Lorado 
Taft, demands 
more than a pas- 
sing word. On 
all hands it has 
received unstint- 
ed praise, Mr. 
Taft, having 
caught a likeness, 
that all who knew 
the original in 
life declare to 
be accurate and 
life-like. More- 
over the work 
evinces a spirit 
which places it 
easily in the front 
ranks of works of 
art. It is not 
only in the mod- 
elling, which is 
exceptionally 
good, that this 
bust attracts at- 
tention, but there 
is life in the set 
of the features, 
and an expres- 
sion that can be 
translated and be 
understood by the 
observer. This is 
where the sculp- 
tor, per se, dis- 
plays himself 
and which dis- 
tinguishes h i s 
work both from the copyist and carver. 
The bust is heroic in size, and attracts the at- 
tention of all in its neighborhood. It will also be 
observed from the illustration that the treatment 
of the subject differs from the usual style of such 
work, and it is set upon the pedestal without 
mouldings or other additions. Altogether the 
monument is a high class work. 
