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The Centennial of the Lusitania

/ Art News - Collections

Paul Wayland Bartlett (American, 1865-1925), "Eagle of Preparedness," 1916. Bronze. 13 x 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. Collection of Birmingham Museum of Art; Gift of Mrs. Armistead Peter III 1958.37
Paul Wayland Bartlett American 1865 1925 Eagle of Preparedness 1916 Bronze 13 x 4 12 x 3 34 in Collection of Birmingham Museum of Art Gift of Mrs Armistead Peter III 195837

On May 7, 1915, during the First World War, a German U-Boat torpedoed the British luxury liner RMS Lusitania. The Lusitania sank in just eighteen minutes, killing 1,198 of its 1,959 passengers, among them Elbert Hubbard, founder of Roycroft, an Arts and Crafts movement colony; and Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, scion of one of America’s wealthiest families.

The attack on the civilian vessel prompted international outrage, causing popular sentiment in officially neutral nations, such as the United States, to turn against Germany. This sculpture, Eagle of Preparedness, is artist Paul Wayland Bartlett’s pointed response to the event, warning that America should prepare itself for an imminent war. Bartlett was correct: on April 6, 1917, the U.S. Congress declared war on Germany.

See the sculpture on display in our Styslinger Gallery of American Art.