Stan and Gus: Art, Ardor, and the Friendship That Built the Gilded Age

by Henry Wiencek

How the architect Stanford White and the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens transcended scandal to enrich their times.

Stanford White was a louche man-about-town and a canny cultural entrepreneur—the creator of landmark buildings that elevated American architecture to new heights. Augustus Saint-Gaudens was the son of an immigrant shoemaker, a moody introvert, and a committed procrastinator whose painstaking work brought emotional depth to American sculpture. They met when Stan was walking down the street and heard Gus whistling Mozart in his studio. They pursued their own careers in Italy and France, then came together again in New York, where they maintained an intimate friendship and partnership that defined the art of the Gilded Age. Over the course of decades, White would help sustain his friend's troubled spirits and vouch for Saint-Gaudens when he failed to complete projects. Meanwhile, Saint-Gaudens would challenge White to take his artistic gifts seriously—and so it went amid brilliant commissions and sordid debaucheries all the way to White’s sensational murder by an enraged husband in 1906.

In Stan and Gus, the acclaimed historian Henry Wiencek sets the two men’s relationship within the larger story of the American Renaissance, where millionaires’ commissions and delusions of grandeur collided with secret upper-class clubs, new aesthetic ideas, and two ambitious young men to yield work of lasting beauty.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Art, Architecture, Historical

320 pages, Hardcover

Published July 22, 2025

About the author

Henry Wiencek is a prominent American historian and editor whose work has encompassed historically significant architecture, the Founding Fathers, various topics relating to slavery, and the Lego company. In 1999, The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, a biographical history which chronicles the racially intertwined Hairston clan of the noted Cooleemee Plantation House, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography.

Wiencek has come to be particularly associated with his work on Washington and slavery as a result of his most recent book, An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, which earned him the Los Angeles Times Book Award for history. Partly as a result of this book, Wiencek was named the first-ever Washington College Patrick Henry Fellow, inaugurating a program designed to provide writing fellowships for nationally prominent historians.

In 2003 Wiencek was appointed to the board of trustees for the Library of Virginia.

He attended Boston College High School, where he was valedictorian. He earned an undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1974 with a double major in Russian Literature and Literary Theory. Soon after graduating, Wiencek moved to New York City, where he worked for Time-Life, editing and writing for its publications.

Wiencek is married to Donna M. Lucey, who is also an American historian. Wiencek has resided in Charlottesville, Virginia since 1992, where he works in his home. He and his wife will be spending the 2008-2009 academic year in residence in a restored colonial house at Chestertown, Maryland in fulfillment of his Patrick Henry Fellowship duties.

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't expect artists to be paragons of virtue, but the subjects of Henry Wiencek's Stan and Gus really tried my patience. The book looks at the friendship (and that may be putting it mildly) of architect Stanford "Stan" White and sculptor Augustus "Gus" Saint-Gaudens. The trope of the tortured artist is the idea that artists need to experience significant suffering to create great art. In the case of these two, it seems they mostly tortured other people.

To be clear, books about terrible people can still be captivating. Wienck's work left me stuck in the middle. There were times in the book where I was riveted. His storytelling around Gus' creation of the memorial to Robert Gould Shaw was a standout. However, I just kept feeling like the narrative was too high-level and lacked the detail needed to make this a real page turner. The book is not that long considering it covers two major New York City artists and their own relationship which was more than just friends based on their correspondence. It felt like their personal relationship and their work got short-changed.

The major problem with the book feeling rushed is that I felt both men's moral failings were too highlighted for the reader to sympathize with them. Gus comes off much better. He was merely a terrible husband and excessive procrastinator. Taking into account the time period, Gus is not a saint (pun intended), but he's not evil and not drastically different from many people in his position. Stan, on the other hand, was a (rhymes with grapist). He was a predator who, on numerous occasions, targeted and groomed underage women. He got shot in the face for his troubles, or more accurately, the troubles he caused for other people.

Ultimately, the book was too short for my tastes. The story could have been much more engaging if it were longer and we got to know the men and their relationship better or if Wienck focused on just one of the men. If you are into art and architecture, you may connect with this better than I did. I wouldn't tell anyone to avoid this book, but I would say you probably need to be an art geek to truly appreciate it.

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.)

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

For many, Stanford White is simply known as the man who courted, and likely raped 16 year old Evelyn Nesbit, and was later killed by Nesbit's husband, Harry Thaw (think "Ragtime").

But White was foremost an outstanding architect and designer, and this is the story of his friendship with the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. There was more to the friendship than we can have imagined.

Their professional relationship produced many notable works —the Farragut Monument in Madison Square in New York City, the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial opposite the State House in Boston, and the Adams Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Both White and Saint-Gaudens appear to have been bisexuals, and had secret lives. It does seem that Stanford White was the Jeffrey Epstein of the Guilded Age.

An interesting read, and it offers insights into the creative processes of art and architecture.

For an excellent look at White's works, check out "Stanford White in Detail" by Samuel G. White.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stan and Gus is a refined and richly woven portrait of two towering figures who helped define the cultural soul of America’s Gilded Age. Henry Wiencek, known for his meticulous historical craftsmanship, delivers a work that is both intimate and panoramic tracing the unlikely friendship between architect Stanford White and sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens with an eye for both grandeur and fragility.

Through their parallel lives one flamboyant and worldly, the other introspective and troubled Wiencek explores how art, ambition, and personal vice intertwined to shape the American Renaissance. The book moves with elegance through studios, salons, and scandals, uncovering how beauty and excess coexisted in an era hungry for identity and artistic legitimacy.

What makes Stan and Gus truly remarkable is its emotional intelligence. Beyond chronicling artistic achievement, it captures the tension between devotion and downfall between creation and self-destruction offering readers a story that feels at once historical and human.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a quick, simple read about the relationship of Stanford White and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It is not by any means an exhaustive book about their achievements, careers, buildings, sculptures or their personal failings.

It was a good primer of that relationship and served its purpose. I knew what I was buying and received what was described. I enjoyed the book and thought it was a page turner. Would have enjoyed more social history but it certainly makes me want to visit ASG’s masterpieces which are less well known than Stanford White’s architecture. In particular would like to visit Clover Adams gravesite in Washington DC. Would also suggest the Architect of Desire by Suzanne Lessard for more about Stanford White.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put this book on reserve in the midst of watched the Gilded Age when I was slightly obsessed with that period. By the time I got the book, my obsession had passed and I considered not reading it. That would have been a mistake - the book focuses on the relationship between Stanford White (who I knew of, mainly from Ragtime) and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a sculptor (who I did not previously know but should have) although the supporting cast of characters are numerous including Tiffany, Richardson and Hunt. Easy to read and non-judgmental without focusing on the more titillating aspects of their lives.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea that August Saint Gaudens and Stanford White had such an intimate relationship. This book is really more about how the two of them, their visions, and their colleagues created a good chunk of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th century. Seeing how some of the city's buildings and monuments came to be was the most intersting part. I'll look at some of those statues differently when next I see them.

[Stuart Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of the lives and works of two of the most significant and influential artists of the American Renaissance, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and architect/designer Stanford White. And who knew the two were also lovers? We get a good look at the two men's personal lives which will definitely disprove any notions that the Victorian era was one of repressive sex.

[Gayla Bassham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both of these men seemed like truly awful people, convinced that "genius" was a pass to treat other people like personal toys. This book reminded me forcibly of modern-day tech execs and further cemented my opinion that we've just forgotten how dire the Gilded Age was for the 99% and decided to relive it for some reason.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love the Gilded Age and the architecture from that time. Stan and Gus dives into a niche part of that history. There is a lot more to the story of Stan though, and he was a super bad person. I feel like the story didn’t dive into the personal lives as much.

Thanks FSG and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in two sittings— proper review pending

[Faith Herndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after finishing Edith Wharton's Custom of the Country. Quite an interesting companion read.