The Arts of War and The Arts of Peace are bronze statue groups on Lincoln Memorial Circle in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Commissioned in 1929 to complement the plaza constructed on the east side of the Lincoln Memorial as part of the Arlington Memorial Bridge approaches, their completion was delayed until 1939 for budgetary reasons. The models were placed into storage, and the statues not cast until 1950. They were erected in 1951, and repaired in 1974. Originally fire-gilded, the statues were brush electroplated in 1974 and covered in 23.75-karat gold leaf in 2026.
The Arts of War were sculpted by Leo Friedlander, an American sculptor. The Art Deco statuary group consists of two separate elements, Valor and Sacrifice, which frame the entrance to Arlington Memorial Bridge.
The Arts of Peace were sculpted by James Earle Fraser, an American sculptor. The Neoclassical statuary group consists of two separate elements, Music and Harvest and Aspiration and Literature, which frame the entrance to the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway.
The Arts of War and The Arts of Peace are contributing properties to the East and West Potomac Parks Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 1973. Accessed 2013-09-27.
Arlington Memorial Bridge and Rock Creek Parkway Congress first proposed a new bridge across the Potomac River, to be located somewhere between B Street NW and Georgetown in 1886.Horne, p. 253. Designs were proposed in 1886Myer, p. 142. and 1898,Scott, p. 118."Approve Bridge Plan." Washington Post. April 10, 1900. but neither was built.
A new location became available in 1890. When terrible floods hit the District of Columbia in 1881, Congress enacted legislation to have the channel of the Potomac River deepened to help prevent future flooding. The silt would be used to reclaim the Tiber Creek tidal inlet, building up the land south of B Street and west of the Washington Monument grounds to a height great enough to act as a levee.Tindall, p. 396; Gutheim and Lee, pp. 94–97; Bednar, p. 47. This work was largely complete by 1890, and designated West Potomac Park by Congress in 1897.Gutheim and Lee, pp. 96–97. During this same period, Columbia Island formed as an offshoot of Analostan Island.Office of Conservation, Interpretation, and Use, pp. 48–49; Moore and Jackson, p. 91. The combination of reclaimed land and the emergence of a new island meant that it was now possible to build a bridge even further south than the previously proposed locations.
In 1902, the Senate Park Commission proposed in its so-called McMillan Plan that a bridge be built from the west end of West Potomac Park (which the commission successfully proposed as the site for the Lincoln Memorial) across the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery. This bridge would be aligned with Arlington House, and act as memorial to the unification of the nation after the American Civil War.Abrams, p. 117; Gutheim and Lee, pp. 134–135.
No action was taken to implement the Senate Park Commission's proposal for 12 years. Congress finally enacted the Public Buildings Act on March 4, 1913, which, among other things, created and funded an Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission (AMBC) whose purpose was to design the bridge and report back to Congress. But due to the onset of World War I, Congress appropriated no money for the commission's operation and it remained inactive.Sherrill, p. 21-25 Accessed 2013-04-15.
Another proposal of the McMillan Plan was the creation of a number of parkways throughout the D.C. area. Among these was the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, which the Senate Park Commission suggested extend from E Street NW through Rock Creek Park to the National Zoological Park.Gutheim and Lee, p. 138. Congress authorized construction of the parkway in March 1913 and principal construction began in 1923.Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. (Reservation Mo. 360) District of Columbia. HABS No. DC-697. Historic American Buildiiigs Survey. National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. 1992, p. 1. Accessed 2013-09-23.
Congress finally authorized construction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge in 1925. Major traffic jams clogged the narrow and decrepit Highway Bridge during the November 1921 dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, angering members of Congress and President Warren G. Harding. Recognizing the need for a new bridge, Congress enacted legislation in June 1922 funding at last the work of the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission.Kohler, The Commission of Fine Arts: A Brief History, 1910–1995, p. 16; "President Urges Funds for Bridge." Washington Post. January 14, 1922; Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, p. 30. The bridge commission on April 4, 1923, chose the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White to design the structure. Architect William Mitchell Kendall was the lead designer.Kohler, The Commission of Fine Arts: A Brief History, 1910–1995, p. 17.McKim, Mead and White only had responsibility for the architectural features of the bridge. The bridge commission turned over engineering aspects of the bridge to the United States Army Corps of Engineers on June 29, 1922. See: Christian, William Edmund. "The Arlington Memorial Bridge." Washington Post. November 1, 1925.
Initial designs for the eastern Arlington Memorial Bridge approaches
The United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) had the legal authority to review the design and architectural style of the bridge. Kendall submitted his first design for the structure to the CFA in May 1923. Kendall's plan envisioned a low, Neoclassical arch bridge. The eastern approachesAn "approach" is the road, ramp, or other feature that allows pedestrians or vehicles to access the bridge. in the District of Columbia consisted of linking the traffic circle around the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River by a granite and marble plaza and by monumental marble steps (the "watergate") leading from the plaza to the river's edge. Two memorial columns would be erected in this plaza. The commission was especially pleased that Kendall proposed extending the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway past its planned terminus at E Street NW south to Ohio Drive SWKohler, The Commission of Fine Arts: A Brief History, 1910–1995, pp. 17–18, 24. (a road completed in 1916). Accessed 2013-09-23. Kendall's plan called for the parkway to pass through the plaza (rather than beneath the Arlington Memorial Bridge via an underpass) to access Ohio Drive.
The CFA gave its preliminary approval to the bridge design in February 1924, but withheld a decision on the eastern approaches."Bridge Models Exhibited." Washington Post. February 8, 1924.
With a design in hand, Congress began work to authorize construction of the proposed bridge. This legislation passed on February 20,"Memorial Bridge Bill Ready for President." Washington Post. February 21, 1925. and President Calvin Coolidge signed it into law on February 24, 1925.Weingroff, Richard F. "Dr. S. M. Johnson – A Dreamer of Dreams." Highway History. Office of Infrastructure and Transportation Performance. Federal Highway Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. April 7, 2011. Accessed 2013-04-15.
Revised designs for the eastern Arlington Memorial Bridge approaches The AMBC and CFA were not only concerned with constructing a bridge, but ensuring that the approaches to the bridge were appropriate for a grand memorial.
The eastern approaches consisted of the end of the bridge, a plaza, a watergate, and the streets which approached the bridge. By November 1925, there were already some design changes as the details of Kendall's plan were worked out. The two columns for the center of the plaza were replaced with a fountain, and then the fountain, too, eliminated. For the bridge's entrance, the AMBC and CFA add two high square pylons inscribed on all four sides with images representing national unity and common purpose.Christian, William Edmund. "The Arlington Memorial Bridge." Washington Post. November 1, 1925. The agencies also planned major changes to B Street NW, a major D.C. city street funneling traffic to the bridge. B Street would be significantly widened to turn it into a vast ceremonial avenue, and its length extended past 23rd Street NW to the shore of the Potomac River (where a new pedestrian overlook would be constructed).Widening and lengthening B Street was one of the first decisions made by the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission. That plan was made in April 1924. See: "Bridge to Arlington to Cost $14,750,000 Asked As Memorial." Washington Post. April 10, 1924. The AMBC's vision for B Street gradually became grander, so that by late 1927 the road was seen as a rival to Pennsylvania Avenue NW. See: "Engineers Plan Impressive Water Approach to City." Washington Post. September 6, 1927. The Potomac River terminus to B Street was never formally adopted by the AMBC or CFA, but designed and implemented by the Corps of Engineers in the spring of 1930. See: Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, 1930, pp. 80–81. B Street would also be connected to the Lincoln Memorial by a new road (now called Henry Bacon Drive)."Park Commission Accepts B Street Boulevard Plans." Washington Post. August 21, 1926; "B Street to Become 80-Foot Boulevard." Washington Post. September 18, 1926. 23rd Street NW was also to be widened to provide a more grand north-south route to the Lincoln Memorial."Lee Highway Bridge Fund Cut From Bill." Washington Post. March 3, 1932. These roads, along with Ohio Drive SW, came together west of the Lincoln Memorial, where Kendall proposed a large granite and marble traffic plaza across which traffic would flow. A grand access to the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway was of the bridge project as well. Two high square pylons with sculpture groups clustered about their bases were planned here as well, to complement those at the bridge.
But in 1928 there was growing concern by members of the CFA that the pylons "complicated" the view toward the Lincoln Memorial from the bridge.Kohler, The Commission of Fine Arts: A Brief History, 1910–1995, p. 23. To assist the commission in making up its mind, the Army Signal Corps produced life-size photographs of mock-ups of the pylons, and erected them on site for the CFA to view in late September 1928. Life-size photographs of shorter pylons were also viewed on-site, but the CFA concluded that both versions were too tall."Arts Commission Approves Designs for Tech Stadium." Washington Post. September 28, 1928."Statues to Adorn End of New Bridge." Washington Post. December 7, 1928. Life-size photographs of equestrian statues were tried, and found to be acceptable.Commission of Fine Arts, 1929, p. 18. Accessed 2013-09-20. In early December 1928, the CFA voted to order Kendall to change the pylons to equestrian statues.
Designing the statues
Hiring Fraser and Friedlander