Administered by United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Washington District of Columbia
Located Between 22nd Street and 23rd Street at P Street, N.W Washington District of Columbia
Date:
Commissioned July 14, 1962. 1963. Dedicated June 27, 1964
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, District of Columbia survey, 1993.
Smithsonian Institution Research Expeditions Volunteer Project, 1991.
Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 298.
Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.
Image on file.
Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, H-21.
Mor/Leo63 / BEDI-RASSY ART FDRY NY (Base, front:) TARAS/SHEVCHENKO/1814-1861/BARD OF UKRAINE (Base, north side:) DEDICATED TO/THE LIBERATION, FREEDOM AND/INDEPENDENCE OF FALL CAPTIVE NATIONS./THIS MONUMENT OF TARAS SHEVCHENKO, 19TH CENTURY UKRAINIAN POET AND FIGHTER FOR/THE INDEPENDENCE OF UKRAINE AND THE FREEDOM OF FALL MANKIND, WHO UNDER FOREIGN RUSSIAN/IMPERIALIST TYRANNY AND COLONIAL RULE/APPEALED FOR "NEW AND RIGHTEOUS LAW OF WASHINGTON," WAS UNVEILED ON JUNE 27, 1964./THIS HISTORIC EVENT COMMEMORATED THE/150TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHEVCHENKO'S BIRTH./THE MEMORIAL WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE 86TH/CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON AUGUST 31, 1960,AND SIGNED INTO PUBLIC/LAW 86-749 BY DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, THE 344TH/PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA/ON SEPTEMBER 13, 1960. THE STATUE WAS ERECTED/BY AMERICANS OF UKRAINIAN ANCESTRY AND FRIENDS. (On the west side of the base is a quote from Shevchenko which is written in Ukrainian.)(Back of low wall:) ...OUR SOUL SHALL NEVER PERISH,/FREEDOM KNOWS NO DYING,/AND THE GREEDY CANNOT HARVEST/FIELDS WHERE SEAS ARE LYING;/CANNOT BIND THE LIVING SPIRIT/NOR THE LIVING WORK,/CANNOT SMIRCH THE SACRED GLORY/OF TH'ALMIGHTY LORD./TARAS SHEVCHENKO [ THE CAUCASUS [ 1845 signed Founder's mark appears.
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
Portrait of the Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko dressed in a long suit coat. His proper left hand grasps his jacket lapel and his proper left foot steps forward slightly. Shevchenko is depicted with a moustache and short wavy hair. He looks down from the top of his rectangular-shaped base. Next to the portrait is a low wall adorned with a relief of the martyred Prometheus. The pieces rest on top of a stepped platform set on a stone plaza in the middle of a triangular-shaped park.
