Thomas Ridgeway Gould, (1818-1881, A White marble figure of the West wind

Thomas Ridgeway Gould (1818-1881), did not pursue a career in sculpture until he was nearly 40 years old. Formerly he had been in a family dry goods business which was ruined by the Civil War. Heeding the advise of friends he then opened a studio in Boston and was soon producing capably modelled  ideal works as well as “portrait likenesses” including  that  of Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1861.

In order to further cultivate his talents, in 1868 Gould moved to Italy and established himself in the English and American  expatriate artist’s colony in Florence. The following year he modelled West Wind which was one of his best known and most controversial statues. Exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial  it elicited an unpleasant dispute between the sculptor and certain critics over the issue of plagiarism. Gould’s detractors claimed that his statue owed too much to Antonio Canova’s  Hebe. The argument was settled in Gould’s favour and the publicity proved beneficial to his business and reputation, resulting in him producing  at least   seven versions.

After settling in Florence, Gould returned to the United States only twice. He died  in Florence  in November 1881, aged 73, soon after his last visit to Boston.