Take A Bow, Mr. Marinsky
The city of Charleston and the state of West Virginia have yet another reason to be a destination of interest with the addition of a new outdoor bronze sculpture by the nonagenarian sculptor living in Italy , Harry Marinsky.
Working in his ninth decade from his studio in the del Chiaro Foundry located in Pietrasanta, near Pisa, Italy, Marinsky's sculptures continue to delight people-especially children-all over the world.
The Clay Center for the Performing Arts of West Virginia is the recipient of his new sculpture entitled, Festival delle Arti (Festival of the Performing Arts) -a gift from sculpture lover, Angus E. Peyton, a former West Virginia State Commerce Commissioner and retired attorney living in Charleston. Peyton's gift was the culmination of a nearly two decade dream to give the city of Charleston a significant sculpture. On June 25, 2005, Peyton's dream was realized at the site of the semi-circular niche on the southwest corner of the performing arts center plaza, where Leon Sullivan Boulevard and Lee Street meet in front of the new center.
A Dream Realized
"For years," Peyton recounts, "I have been interested in how to enhance the city of Charleston in the context of its magnificent natural landscape of the Kanawha Valley -with its hills, the valley and a river running through it. Sculpture and fountains throughout the world's most beautiful cities charmed me. I thought, 'Why not have this in Charleston?' We were able to do the sculpture, yet decided to forgo the fountain so that children could run right up and play with the sculpture."
Brent Bailey, a 13 year old Charleston resident, who helped bring the sculpture to life as a Pulchinella mime during the sculpture unveiling June 25, says that the new sculpture" is an encouragement to the arts in Charleston." He likes the fact that the sculpture is intended for kids and offers them a chance to get to explore art firsthand. He adds, "It is definitely focused toward children. The sculpture is pretty whimsical, entertaining and really catches your attention. It forces you to interact with the figures, to see what it's made of."
From any vantage point in the circular piece, a jubilant series of six bronze figures dressed in performing arts costumes parade around a central bronze tree. The magic of the inanimate sculpture is that it appears to move. The sculptor masterfully imbued movement and expression in each figure such that the overall impression is one of ebullient movement. Personality, poise and mirth are expressed in each figure: the boy drummer, the young girl dancer, the Pulchinella holding a polished bronze mask from a pole, a flutist, a painter and singer-all engaged in their own symphonic harmony as an offering to all those who view them.
Look more closely at the finesse of details that sculptor Marinsky has chosen to share with the viewer. Each figure represents something vibrant about the performing arts; the drummer taps a beat almost as if announcing the arrival of a parade. To his right, is a youthful dancing woman-Spanish in her garb with a scarf tied becomingly at her waist, polished castanets clicking in her hands and oversized polished hoops swinging from her ear lobes. Next to her, the painter jauntily holds his palette and paintbrush in his hands while dressed nattily in a long coat (much like the coat that Marinsky wears in his sculpture studio), a cravat tied loosely around his neck. A singer carries the procession around the tree, her arms outstretched with poise and emotion from her melody. Leading her is the Pulchinella character deriving from earlier Italian forms of acting, carrying his pole with a polished bronze mask affixed to the top, ribbons of bronze blowing about his head which is crowned with the humorous long cone-like cap. Completing the procession is the flutist, his mask in polished bronze, a stainless steel flute held nimbly in both hands. It reminds one of "Maypole" figures-each wrapping themselves around a tree in celebration of a rite of spring. However, these figures give the appearance of being able to dance right off their double-stepped base and continue in procession to the front door of the Clay Center!
The Father
It is no coincidence that the figures are well-dressed. The sculptor's father was a talented haute couture clothing designer who established himself first at the leading fashion establishment of Phillips of London (couturier to the Queen and her court), then later as the partner in Davis and Marinsky, creating the finest clothes for the haute mode of Newport and Providence, Rhode Island. Harry Marinsky continues this tradition by dressing his sculptural figures in clothes, shoes and accoutrements of a time other than today's contemporary world. They have a timeless feel.
Harry Marinsky's figures share an emphasis on linear grace and simplicity with the works of Polish sculptor, Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) who, after achieving prominence in the Paris art world, immigrated to this country and became an active force in the artistic life of New York City. Marinsky acknowledges the inspiration provided by Nadelman. The two artisans share the unification of smooth surfaces, distinct outlines and simplified compositions. Marinsky achieves a striking union of modernist simplification with his genre subjects.
Sculptures by Marinsky are found in Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Japan. In the United States, they can be seen in Denver and Englewood, Colorado, Connecticut, California, South Carolina, Texas-and now West Virginia. Marinsky's work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum as well as numerous exhibitions in his 76 year career.
How did such a sculpture come into being?
The Inspiration
For years, Peyton, the sculpture's donor, traveled and observed what made cities in the United States and Europe so memorable for him. He concluded that among other aspects, it was the sculpture and fountains that made a city great. Further inspiration came from an Arkansas friend who talked about how he had set up a fund to purchase a sculpture for the city of Little Rock. This donor's search led him to an important work of the 20 th century. A sculpture by the British sculptor Henry Moore was selected and installed with great success in downtown Little Rock .
Peyton had often admired the Central Park sculpture of Alice in Wonderland because the sculpture actually did something. It allowed the children of New York, as well as visiting children, to play gleefully-without the usual restraint of either museum "do not touch" rules or formal environs-to keep children at a distance. Peyton was inspired in so many ways to seek out ideas for sculptures that he might want to offer his community. He was constantly looking for the "right sculptor" who would capture a special feeling for him.
The birth of an original sculpture is a thing that takes time-a lot of time. With a gestation period of four and a half years from the first call to sculptors for creative concepts to the installation of the completed piece of sculpture, the project required a dedicated and committed team of individuals who came together as the Sculpture Advisory Committee to the donor. These individuals were committed from the outset to bring about the stated mission: We will present a timeless sculpture that will express the wonder of the Clay Center. We intend to engage all ages with sculpture that is appropriate, inviting, fresh, uplifting and magical.
The committee was comprised of the donor Angus Peyton; Collectors Club members Nancy Thomas, William Maxwell Davis and Sharon Wehrle; Clay Center president Sue Sergi and veteran art consultant Morgan Peyton Heiskell, daughter of the donor. The steps the committee employed are the standard accepted practice beginning with the search and selection process.
A Call to Sculptors
A call to sculptors was issued in January of 2001. Invitations to top tier sculptors working in both representational and abstract styles to submit examples of their previous work, along with the artists' biographical profiles. Responses from sculptors flowed to the committee over a two-month period. One hundred eight submissions were reviewed over a period of several days until 10 semi-finalists were selected. The 10 semi-finalist sculptors were asked to submit their conceptual ideas for a sculpture that would fit the mission statement. Site plans, specifications and other pertinent materials were offered. The 10 semi-finalists were given two months to complete their concepts and submit them in a specified format.
Long hours were spent by the Sculpture Advisory Committee reviewing the ideas and submissions from the semi-finalists in order to choose three finalists. The three finalists were then asked to submit their ideas in the form of a maquette -a small representation of their proposal for a sculpture. A West Virginia couple who are both sculptors, Bill and Ai Qiu Hopen and a California artist, Aristedes Demetrios, were interviewed in person with their maquettes. The American expatriate working in Tuscany, Italy, Harry Marinsky, was interviewed by phone while committee members reviewed his three-dimensional maquette sitting on a table in front of them.
In consultation with noted international landscape architect and designer, Morgan Wheelock of Boston , the committee had a formidable task to select the sculptor or sculptors they believed would best fulfill the mission statement. Ultimately, it was Marinsky's sense of humor as expressed in his work, in addition to his masterful handling of the figures and the reputation of the Del Chiaro Foundry that won the committee's approval. A contract was signed and the sculptor began working at his studio to shape a grander vision for the life-size figures and tree.
Between 2003 and 2004 the figures were enlarged by experts at the Del Chiaro Foundry under the watchful eye of Marinsky. He then completed the detail work on the figures-the polished buttons, masks and shoe buckles, followed by the patination of an entire Pulchinella figure. It was the 19-foot tree trunk that presented the most challenging task for the master sculptor.
In early 2004, the ever spry and daring 94 year old sculptor developed a problem in his left shoulder that eventually forced him to use an arm sling. Franco Del Chiaro, the foundry director recalls how Marinsky, "climbed the scaffolding anyway, his bad arm in a sling, and continued ahead with his work using his free arm and hand. He had a deadline to meet for the client. That is the character of Harry Marinsky. His work keeps him young."
Marinsky persevered with his work on the sculptural components, using various skilled craftsmen in the foundry. "This is hard labor," says Del Chiaro. "We have a long history of using the ancient method of the 'lost wax' process, and it is the only casting method we endorse. It involves strict adherence to complex foundry methods and principles."
The Del Chiaro Foundry has been so successful in its execution of bronze castings that it boasts a heady roster of internationally known artisans, including Nina Akamu, Joseph Beuys, Fernando Botero, Willem de Kooning and Jacques Lipchitz, among many others. It was Jimily Mason, another Del Chiaro sculptor-and sculptor of "Cabriole" currently sited in front of the now BB&T (formerly One Valley Square ) bank building-who introduced Angus Peyton to the skills of the Del Chiaro Foundry.
"The foundry really came through," Peyton says. "I was very impressed with the way they completed this monumental sculpture in seven pieces, crated them and sent them on their way for the long journey through the narrow streets of small Italian villages on its way to the port of Italy. The seven crates were then loaded onto two ships bound for the port of New York. "We had a terrific lady at the Clay Center, Robin Morris, who undertook the challenges of tracking all of the items through the customs procedures in both countries and the shipping, unloading and transport on the low flatbed trucks. It rivaled the best James Bond story."
The Journey
On May 8, 2005 , the trucks began arriving in Charleston to unload their shipments at The Clay Center. For months, a team of soil testers, engineers, architects, lighting designers and construction managers met to integrate the complex task of giving the sculpture a level base. The four-and-a-half ton sculpture had to be safely secured in a concrete footer, deep enough and secure enough to hold the tree upright. Ham Engineering of South Charleston, had to verify that mighty gusts of wind or storms blowing through the Kanawha Valley would not blow away the top-heavy tree component.
The architect of the sculpture base, Kahlil Hamady of Hamady Architects in Charlottesville, Virginia, specified that any child sitting on one of two steps designed for them to ascend safely to the level base, would be able to wrap a small hand around the curve of the base. He encouraged the donor to consider the use of limestone-a more expensive material-for the base because it would speak of quality and endure for many years, as the bronze sculpture is expected to last generations.
Lighting of the Festival delle Arti sculpture was initially thought to be as simple as affixing lights to the limestone base. This proved a complex undertaking, requiring the expertise of an architectural firm specializing in lighting the great public buildings and museums throughout the world. George Sexton Associates of Washington, D.C., provided a unique and refined perspective to properly design the lighting for the sculpture which has seven components to light. "We want to avoid the potentially ghoulish lighting of Halloween," says lighting architect and designer, Chris Stroik. "Our goal is to sublimely light each figure, and reinforce the more intense lighting at the base of the tree."
Each of these specialties needed to be orchestrated in the final month of preparation to receive the sculpture at the classy center. Maynard C. Smith Construction Company of Charleston was asked to play a large and unifying role in the completion of the base construction. John Strickland, president of the company, had a unique perspective and experience overseeing this final important task. Two years ago, he successfully transported the sculptures belonging to the former Sunrise Museum when it moved to the Clay Center, becoming the Avampato Discovery Museum.
Just as the processional of figures do in Festival delle Arti, the team played well and the sculptures were expertly brought by lift and crane to align in their desired places on the limestone base. The sculpture was unveiled, the Appalachian Children's Choir sang and the pair of live Pulchinellas popped out from among the bronze sculptures-to the cheers and applause of the crowd.
Take a bow, Mr. Marinsky and Mr. Peyton.
