Description:

Saunders Schultz
American (St. Louis), 1927-2017
Freedom Monument
Metal
Sculpted metal tree bent over with branches extending. With Knoll table base bearing name plaque reading "Gift of Class of 1962, Class of 1965, and Class of 1967".

Saunders Schultz was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1927. At a young age Schultz began his artistic career by painting murals for local businesses. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University School of Fine Arts, St. Louis, in 1950 and subsequently was the recipient of a fellowship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in 1952. Schultz taught master classes and symposia at various universities including Harvard University School of Landscape Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, earning himself recognition as one of the founders of Environmental Sculpture. Schultz's sculptures vary from model-size to twenty-seven stories tall and are located in thirty-five states and the District of Columbia, as well as Moscow, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. His work has been published in ARTnews, Architectural Record, Architectural Forum, among others. Throughout his lifetime Schultz has collaborated with architects and landscape designers including Eero Saarinen, Minoru Yamasaki, Hideo Sasaki, Art Gensler, EDAW, Mitchell/Giurgola, RTKL, Ellerbe Becket, Erich Mendelsohn, Edward D. Stone, Jr., Thomas Ventullett III, and Theodore Wofford.

  • Provenance: Property from the collection of Fontbonne University, Clayton, Missouri

    Artist Statement: "Architect William Pesturi was designing the library for Fontbonne University in 1979. Unfortunately, then as now, books were being banned all across the country, and in fact, the world. The Hungarian revolt was current history. Freedom had to be the theme.

    For years I'd been struck by the tenacity and indestructability of nature. Many times the tree that had been struck by lightning or cut down would amaze and delight by its refusal to die. Young limbs would literally burst forth from the stump. This phenomenon was the inspiration for FREEDOM TREE. For the nuns and the majority of students, the tree became the image for the resurrection. Depending on the viewer's lens, this universal symbol could transfer itself to many interpretations. When the author Harry James Cargas saw FREEDOM TREE, not knowing that it was originally designed to be a metaphor for the Holocaust, he asked permission to place its image on the cover of his book, "A Christian Looks at the Holocaust". Placed there, it represented the Jewish people who, although symbolically related to the giant tree, refused to die. With this symbol, they are seen coming back in a vibrant resurgence. Few can look at the sculpture without being inspired by its message of freedom's indestructability and ultimate triumph over intolerance and hatred."

    - Saunders Schultz
  • Dimensions: Sculpture: 34 x 16 x 32 in. (86.4 x 40.6 x 81.3 cm.), Table: 14 x 41 in. (35.6 x 104.1 cm.)
  • Medium: Metal
  • Condition:
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August 16, 2025 10:00 AM CDT
St. Louis, MO, US

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