WORLD WAR I: GENERAL "BLACK JACK" PERSHING., Weldon Felix de. 1907-2003.
Plaster maquette for a bronze statue of General Pershing. [early 1970s?].
Weldon Felix de. 1907-2003. Plaster maquette for a bronze statue of General Pershing. [early 1970s?]. A bronze-painted plaster maquette of General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, the most famous of American Generals of the 20th century, modeled as Commanding Officer of the US Forces in WWI, standing tall and wrapped in a long trench coat, on his own plaster mount. Height 18.5 inches (470mm). Mounted on a more recent wooden base. One of 2 known examples.
Provenance: The Estate of Felix de Weldon: The War Museum.
After de Weldon had finished the monumental US Marine Memorial in Arlington, he rapidly became the foremost American statue and monument maker, designing and constructing numerous projects around the world. One of his main interests was in military leaders and Presidents. In particular he was fascinated by the image of General Pershing and embarked on 3 projects in the 1960s. The first project involved taking was a secondary cast from the life mask of Pershing originally done by Jo Davidson, making 3 copies, one of which he gifted to the Pershing Room at the A&N Club. His second project was this plaster statue of the great general, presumed to have been the smaller version of a larger life size bronze version that was never started. Weldon gifted a similar statue to the Pershing room of the club in 1985. His third project was a full sized 20 foot high plaster model of Pershing on his horse. This $1m bronze version project (now around 40m) had been commissioned by the French Government and the American Veterans of Foreign Wars, in the early 1970s to be placed in La Place des Etats Unis, in Paris. Although France paid their 50% share, the VFW did not, so no bronze version of this monument was cast or delivered to Paris, but there exists a photograph of Pershing's son, Warren, visiting de Weldon's studio in 1975, both standing in front of the monumental plaster version of the statue. this plaster version remained in de Weldon's studio and was sold in the fire sale auction of its contents in 1993. Both de Weldon and Pershing had been members of the Army and Navy Club in Washington.
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Plaster maquette for a bronze statue of General Pershing. [early 1970s?].
Weldon Felix de. 1907-2003. Plaster maquette for a bronze statue of General Pershing. [early 1970s?]. A bronze-painted plaster maquette of General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, the most famous of American Generals of the 20th century, modeled as Commanding Officer of the US Forces in WWI, standing tall and wrapped in a long trench coat, on his own plaster mount. Height 18.5 inches (470mm). Mounted on a more recent wooden base. One of 2 known examples.
Provenance: The Estate of Felix de Weldon: The War Museum.
After de Weldon had finished the monumental US Marine Memorial in Arlington, he rapidly became the foremost American statue and monument maker, designing and constructing numerous projects around the world. One of his main interests was in military leaders and Presidents. In particular he was fascinated by the image of General Pershing and embarked on 3 projects in the 1960s. The first project involved taking was a secondary cast from the life mask of Pershing originally done by Jo Davidson, making 3 copies, one of which he gifted to the Pershing Room at the A&N Club. His second project was this plaster statue of the great general, presumed to have been the smaller version of a larger life size bronze version that was never started. Weldon gifted a similar statue to the Pershing room of the club in 1985. His third project was a full sized 20 foot high plaster model of Pershing on his horse. This $1m bronze version project (now around 40m) had been commissioned by the French Government and the American Veterans of Foreign Wars, in the early 1970s to be placed in La Place des Etats Unis, in Paris. Although France paid their 50% share, the VFW did not, so no bronze version of this monument was cast or delivered to Paris, but there exists a photograph of Pershing's son, Warren, visiting de Weldon's studio in 1975, both standing in front of the monumental plaster version of the statue. this plaster version remained in de Weldon's studio and was sold in the fire sale auction of its contents in 1993. Both de Weldon and Pershing had been members of the Army and Navy Club in Washington.
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