Scaffolding is being removed from two newly regilded bronze equestrian sculptures in Washington, DC, according to a recent Truth Social post from President Donald Trump.
On July 27, the president posted images of the work and wrote, “Taking down the scaffolding around the regilded Arts of War sculptures!”
As Trump continues his broader makeover of dozens of monuments, statues, and landmarks across the capital, the Arts of War works are two of four horse statues scheduled for restoration. Their counterparts, the Arts of Peace sculptures, are set to receive the same treatment.
In late May, NOTUS reported that the National Park Service (NPS) awarded a $5.1 million no-bid contract for the project to the Gilders’ Studio in Maryland. But documents later obtained by The New York Times show the NPS estimated repairs at about $2.4 million, roughly half the sum allocated to the studio. According to the Times, the Department of the Interior, which oversees the NPS, declined to comment on the apparent discrepancy.
Commissioned in 1929 and installed in 1951 on Lincoln Memorial Circle, Leo Friedlander’s Arts of War sculptures, individually titled “Valor” and “Sacrifice,” and James Earle Fraser’s Arts of Peace sculptures, “Music and Harvest” and “Aspiration and Literature,” have long raised preservation concerns. After going unrestored since the 1970s, the sculptures had faded over time and gradually exposed patches of their bronze surface. Along with regilding the statues, the Gilders’ Studio is also restoring the granite plinths beneath them.
Although the four statues were originally gilded, they now resemble other, previously ungilded or even nonexistent projects that have taken on a golden finish during Trump’s presidency. From the Oval Office to the proposed state ballroom, which is expected to cost $600 million, the president is overseeing several construction efforts marked by Mar-a-Lago-style embellishments and substantial price tags. The Gilders’ Studio has not yet responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.
