My prior Art posts can be found HERE.
How do we move away from being a civilization that produces art that causes comments like, “my five year old could make this,” back to being one that creates beauty and inspires deep questions? We must reject modernity and embrace tradition. To embrace tradition, we must first learn about it..
Let’s study art history together.
National Monument to the Forefathers
| Location | Allerton St. Plymouth, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Built | August 1, 1889 |
| NRHP reference No. | 74002033 |
| Added to NRHP | August 30, 1974 |
Sometimes I wonder if the United States suffers from the failure to adequately market its fine works of art. While I do generally agree that America’s fine works of art are fewer in number than those in Europe (we obviously started well after Europe did) it also seems to be true that the art we do have is less well-known and less well-marketed than it should be. A lot of the great works of art in the United States are not well-known outside of the town or region in which they sit.
For example: The National Monument to the Forefathers
This is an 81 feet tall granite statue, designed to evoke the ancient Colossus of Rhodes. I would wager a majority of Americans have never heard of this monument, let alone made vacation plans to come and see it (the way that they might something similar across the Atlantic.) That’s a shame. This is a fantastic work of art and unlike its ancient Greek counterpart, it still stands.
(more via wiki)
The National Monument to the Forefathers, formerly known as the Pilgrim Monument, commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims. Dedicated on August 1, 1889, it honors their ideals as later generally embraced by the United States. It is thought to be the world’s largest solid granite monument.
Overview
Located at 72 Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the 81-foot-tall (25 m) monument was commissioned by the Pilgrim Society. The original concept dates to around 1820, with actual planning beginning in 1850. The cornerstone was laid August 2, 1859 by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, under the direction of Grand Master John T. Heard. The monument was completed in October 1888, and was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on August 1, 1889.
Hammatt Billings, Boston architect, illustrator, and sculptor, originally conceived the monument as a 150-foot-tall (46 m) structure comparable to the Colossus of Rhodes. Shortly before his death in 1874, Billings reduced the size of the monument, which was to be made entirely of granite quarried in Hallowell, Maine. The project was then passed to Billings’ brother Joseph who, along with other sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James Mahoney, reworked the design, although the basic components remained. The monument, which faces northeast to Plymouth Harbor (and, roughly, towards Plymouth, England), sits in the center of a circular drive, which is accessed from Allerton Street from the east. The plan of the principal pedestal is octagonal, with four small, and four large faces; from the small faces project four buttresses. On the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of “Faith” with her right hand pointing toward heaven and her left hand clutching the Bible. Upon the four buttresses also are seated figures emblematic of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth; counter-clockwise from the east are Morality, Law, Education, and Liberty. Each was carved from a solid block of granite, posed in the sitting position upon chairs with a high relief on either side of minor characteristics. Under “Morality” stand “Prophet” and “Evangelist”; under “Law” stand “Justice” and “Mercy”; under “Education” are “Youth” and “Wisdom”; and under “Liberty” stand “Tyranny Overthrown” and “Peace”. On the face of the buttresses, beneath these figures are high reliefs in marble, representing scenes from Pilgrim history. Under “Morality” is “Embarcation”; under “Law” is “Treaty”; under “Education” is “Compact”; and under “Liberty” is “Landing”. Upon the four faces of the main pedestal are large panels for records. The front panel is inscribed as follows: “National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The right and left panels contain the names of those who came over in the Mayflower. The rear panel, which was not engraved until recently, contains a quotation from Governor William Bradford‘s famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation:
Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise.
The overall scheme was designed by architect Hammatt Billings. The 36-foot figure of Faith was based on a 9-foot plaster model by William Rimmer in 1875, that was enlarged and altered by Joseph Edward Billings and a sculptor named Perry (probably John D. Perry). The subsidiary statues were executed by area sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James H. Mahoney.
National Register
The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 30, 1974. Originally under the care of the Pilgrim Society, it was given to the Massachusetts government in 2001. It and Plymouth Rock constitute the Pilgrim Memorial State Park. Although intended as national in scope, the Forefathers Monument is not a federal “National Monument” as understood today from the Antiquities Act of 1906.
Film
Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure, a 2012 documentary hosted by Kirk Cameron, features the history of the monument and the values of those it commemorates.
After finding out about the existence of the Kirk Cameron feature above, I decided to find it and share it here. It definitely has a perspective and that perspective feels about a decade ahead of its time AND about a decade after its time. (Let us never forget that culture sometimes swings like a pendulum – so let that give you hope in your times of minority and vigilance in your times of majority.)
You might watch this video below and feel as though you’re getting a sermon. That should not surprise you with a Founders monument in Plymouth. The Pilgrims were a very religious people. The monument reflects that in its symbolism. You can’t actually explain its symbolism without the religious messaging. Mr. Cameron covers it well.
The next video, below, is really well-filmed and gives a virtual tour of the monument with some great drone footage. Try to watch this and not become passionate about our Founders, I dare you. Art is supposed to move you. This does.
I think the problem (if problem it is) lies more on the demand side than awareness
The lack of demand is definitely true, but I think there’s a supply issue as well. The problem above those two things, IMO, is that the public has been manipulated to like things that don’t fit the historical definition of art.
The U.S. gov’t propped up Jackson Pollack and his ilk on the international stage. He had no actual organic audience, but the government picked a winner and then all of our institutions helped to sell it and the institutions never pivoted back. Good art still exists and has continued to exist, but it moved away from mainstream art galleries and public art displays and toward anime, comics, video games, etc. Those platforms are all awesome, but I think the world needs quality art in our surroundings, too. You shouldn’t have to get on a plane and fly 2,000 miles to see a bunch of beautiful buildings all in one walkable area, or awesome public art displays i parks, city intersections, etc. People used to build stuff like that everywhere. The U.S.’s interior was largely built-out during this anomalous ugly era. There seems to be a a move back to good art happening now, but it was 80 years in coming.