Photo: Metro Louisville Commission on Public Art
We call attention to Enid Yandell at the end of 2019, which was her 150th birthday, and as we move into 2020, which is the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. Yandell was an ardent member of the suffragist movement and an internationally recognized artist who studied with Frederick MacMonnies and Auguste Rodin in Paris. In 1898 she became the first woman inducted into the National Sculpture Society.
Yandell created some of Louisville’s most venerable and familiar public sculptures and her birthday was recognized with seven exhibits at various locations throughout the year, and in March her Hometown Hero banner, one of the last of that series, was installed on the Harbison Condominiums building near Fort Nelson Park, located at Seventh and Main streets in Louisville Kentucky.
The Metro Louisville Committee on Public Art (COPA) website relates the history of Hogan’s Fountain:
“In 1903, not long after the completion of Ruff Memorial Fountain and Wheelman's Bench, Yandell was approached by General John Breckinridge Castleman (1841—1918), founder of the Louisville Parks Department and a close friend of the Yandell family, to design a fountain for Cherokee Park. Hogan's Fountain was commissioned by prominent merchant William J. Hogan and his wife, who actively collaborated with Yandell about the choice of subject matter. By that time, Yandell was living and working from her studio in Paris, where she created the Louisville work and had it shipped to the States for construction.”
“Hogan's Fountain, which was originally intended as a watering fountain for horses and dogs, is topped with a small bronze figure of the mythical Pan, god of nature, the wild, shepherds, flocks, and goats, among other things. Pan, who has the body of a human but the hindquarters and legs of a goat, appears to dance in a patch of lily pads and cattails, holding his famous lute above his head, presumably having just used it to call the animals of the nearby park. Yandell represents Pan's "flock" below, where bronze turtles spout water into the large basin and, located underneath at the base of the fountain, several small dog heads act as water fountains for park—goers' leashed dogs. Yandell, always intent to capture her subjects accurately, is said to have modeled the bronze turtles from live turtles she found near Louisville.” (KTF)
For many who came of age in Louisville, the fountain was a touchstone for after school gatherings and family events, the broad, open space surrounded by trees with its nearby pavilion comprising arguably the most welcoming spot in Cherokee Park.
And, not surprisingly, Hogan’s Fountain is the subject of an urban legend that allows that, at every full moon the statue of Pan comes down from the perch to wander the park, creating mischief for innocent passers by.
Hogan’s Fountain
1905
Bronze/Vermont Granite
Scroll down for more images
Hogan's Fountain/Pan, c. 1906-1916
Hogan’s Fountain at Cherokee Park, 1905. Historic photo provided by the University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections, Claude C. Matlack Collection.
Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2019 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.
