70 Two Sketchbook Proposal Drawings for the Irish Memorial, 1998

Category Art
Auction Currency USD
Start Price NA
Estimated at 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Two Sketchbook Proposal Drawings for the Irish Memorial, 1998
Artist: Glenna, Goodacre
Date of Birth: b. 1939
Medium: Graphite
Dimensions: 17 x 14 inches
Signed: Signed lower right and dated 1998
Verso:

To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of The Irish Great Hunger, an enterprising group in Philadelphia established The Irish Great Hunger Memorial fund to erect a monument to those who perished and to the determined people who survived the potato blight—immeasurably enriching the history of our country. A 1.75 acre site for the memorial was approved at Front and Chestnut Streets overlooking the Delaware River. In an international competition in 1997, The Irish Memorial committee selected America’s great sculptor Glenna Goodacre to create a model for the proposed monument. She submitted drawings and a scale model which are included in this historic auction. She created a concept of a scale and scope worthy of such an important historic event. Incredibly, Goodacre’s studio team sculpted the huge clay original in one year, 2001. It took another year to cast, a year to complete the landscaping, and it was finally installed in 2003. The bronze memorial is 12’ high and over 30’ long with 35 life-size figures suggesting a Coffin Ship and the multitudes involved in the Irish Starvation and diaspora. Historians agree that from 1845 to 1850 about a million Irish people starved to death and a further one-and-a-half million who could scrape together the fare emigrated, many to America. The original clay heads and busts of the many figures on the huge memorial were detachable so they could be sculpted at eye-level in the studio. This gave Glenna the idea of casting editions of just the heads, a traveling exhibition entitled Inspirations From The Irish Memorial. —Dan Anthony A portion of the proceeds from lots 70-96 will go to benefit the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix. The Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library in Phoenix, Arizona, provide a link to the people and culture of Ireland through programs, classes, exhibits, special events, festivals and more. Visit us for more information at azirish.org.