American Art: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

Hi everyone! Today, we are going to talk about one of the most important and famous sculptures in the United States, The Statue of Liberty.

1. HISTORY

Although this important monument was inaugurated in 1886, his history began long before:

- In 1667, a Dutch colony named Isaac Bedloe, obtained a land in the Oyster Island. Later, this territory was sold to New York, where the Statue of Liberty is placed nowadays.

- In 1794, there were a lot of confrontations between the United States, France and Britain after the American Revolution. For this reason, fortifications were built on the Island of Bedloe that was a military post from 1807 to 1937.

- In 1865, Edouard de Laboulaye, a French politician, decided to give a monument to the United States as a french gift to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of American Independence.

Edouard de Laboulaye

- In 1870, Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, started the project of Laboulaye and he was the author of the Statue of Liberty. The full name of this work was Liberty Enlightening the World.

Auguste Bartholdi

- In 1881, Auguste Bartholdi asked for help to Gustave Eiffel to build part of this statue due to its complexity.

Gustave Eiffel

- In 1883, Emma Lazarus wrote a poem called The New Colossus to raise money because this monument was very expensive, but the real success came thanks to Joseph Pulitzer (a New York World publisher) who got a lot of money to build the pedestal in 1885. This construction was made by the architect Richard Morris and the statue arrived at the harbor of New York on June 1885.

Emma Lazarus

Joseph Pulitzer

The New Colossus

- In 1886, the pedestal was completed and it was the moment to unite the individual pieces of the statue. This work was made by immigrants. This year was important too because on October 23^rd the Statue of Liberty was completely finished and five days later was inaugurated on Bedloe's Island.

- In 1903, Emma Lazaru's poem was inscribed on the pedestal of the statue.

- In 1956, it was decided to rename the island like Liberty Island under the leadership of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

- In 1965, President Johnson made Ellis Island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

President Johnson

- In 1982, Lee Iacocca led the project to restore the monument and it began two years later. In this restoration there were several changes, but one of the most important was the construction of a new torch covered with gold. The work was completed in 1896 and there were numerous events too: President Ronald Reagan relit the torch of the statue, the Statue of Liberty National Monument was reopened, a new Statue of Liberty of Museum was incorporate in the pedestal and the centenary anniversary celebration took place.

Lee Iacocca

- Finally, in 2004 it was reopened to the public after having been closed since 2001 because of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.

2. CHARACTERISTICS

First of all, this sculpture -that represent an allegory of Liberty- is situated at the entrance of the Harbor of New York. Because of that, it became the first thing that immigrants saw when they arrived to Ellis Island, where they were medically examinated.
Regarding the style, it has been described as a neoclassical sculpture with a mixture between the ancient art and the Art Nouveau.

At the beginnings, the interior was made of iron, but in the following restorations it was replaced with stainless steel to avoid damages. As we have said before, the original torch was made of copper, but it was later replaced by gold.

Now, let's name the dimensions of the sculpture because we think is important too:

- The statue is 305 feet (93 metres) from the pedestal to the tip of the torch, 111 feet (42 metres) from heel to head, her waist is 35 feet (11 metres) and weight 225 tons.

Total measurement

- The crown has 7 rays and 25 windows. Each ray is 9 feet (2,74m) long and weighs 150 pounds (56kg). The rays represent the seven continents and the windows represent the gemstones that exist in the world. Finally, the face on the Statue of Liberty measures more than 8 feet tall (2,4m).

- The table on the left hand is 23 feet (7m) high and 13 feet (4m) wide. In this table is represented in Roman numerals the date of Independence of the United States.

Table's statue

- At the feet of the statue, the chains represent oppression and tyranny.

Chains statue

- Finally, the outside copper of the statue is 3/32 inch thick and the light green color is due to the natural erosion of copper.

3. CURIOSITIES

If you want to know more about this sculpture, now we are going to name some curiosities about her:

- It is one of the most visited monuments with 4 millions of people each year.

- The face of the statue is inspired by Batholdi's mother.

- It became a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984.

- There are several replicas of the Statue of Liberty in Paris and Las Vegas.

- It was represented in the paintings of Andy Warhol as a part of his Pop Art series in the 1960s.

Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas

Statue of Liberty by Andy Warhol

Here you have a short video that summarize the history of the Statue of Liberty:

4.CONCLUSION

First, we must say that this sculpture has several different Internet websites due to its importance. These websites include all kind of topics such as its history, sculptors, construction, materials, curiosities, etc.

On the one hand, the most important thing is that it has become an international monument because in the construction, financing or renovation participated American and French people. On the other hand, the construction was very difficult due to its complexity and cost.

If you talk about the Statue of Liberty, you are talking about freedom and emancipation. Americans are very proud of this work because it is very important for them for its history. For this reason, we think they have made many restorations, because they want others to know the positive changes and evolution in the society.

We also think that the United States won't be the same without the Statue of Liberty. Do you agree with us?

We hope you enjoy this post! Next week, we are going to continue adding information about art.