Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi 1871, not finishing the massive sandstone statue until 1880. In 1871, he made his first trip to the United States, where he pitched the idea of a massive statue gifted from the French to the Americans in honor of the centennial of American independence. The idea, which had first been broached to him in 1865 by his friend Édouard René de Laboulaye, resulted in the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. After years of work and fundraising, the statue was inaugurated in 1886. During this period, Bartholdi also sculpted a number of monuments for American cities, such as a
Replicas of the Statue of Liberty the United States Declaration of Independence) like the New York statue, and "XIV JUILLET 1789" (July 14, 1789: the storming of the Bastille) associated with an equal sign. This statue is shown in the film "" as a historic location. The tall original plaster maquette finished in 1878 by Auguste Bartholdi that was used to make the statue in New York is in the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. This original plaster was bequeathed by the artist's widow in 1907, together with part of the artist's estate. On the square outside the Musée des Arts et Métierss entrance