A Tale of Two Sculptures
Over the past weekend, my family and I took a short but wonderful vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was our first trip there and it was an overall great experience. The landscape is beautiful and the chance to escape the city life and spend some time out in nature is always a plus. It is easy to see why the Lakota treasured this land and consider it sacred to their people. The mixture of cultures in this area has brought about a variety of art in which one can spend days respectfully observing and enjoying.
Of course, the two main attractions in the Black Hills, are the two enormous sculptures, which thousands of people flock to see daily. The forever popular Mt. Rushmore, with its' depiction of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, is an American icon. The at one time lesser known but ever increasingly popular, Crazy Horse Memorial, when completed will be the largest mountain sculpture in the world. Some say that it will become the 8th Wonder of the World. These are both wonderful works of art, within 20 minutes from each other and one might be tempted to compare and find similarities between the two. After visiting the two, it may be easier to find more differences.
Mt. Rushmore has long been an American icon and a monument to 4 presidents. The likenesses of each president are very accurate and when you visit it in person, you can see some of the amazing detail in the figures. The idea for the project was conceived by Doane Robinson, who originally wanted to carve some of the beatiful spires of the region into images. Upon hiring Danish-American Gutzon Borglum to sculpt the project, Borglum was unhappy with site because of the poor quality of the granite and the strong but understandable opposition by Native American groups. They finally settled on Mt. Rushmore but Borglum wanted to sculpt something that would have a more national focus so he choose the 4 presidents.
US senator Peter Norbeck secured federal funding for the project and work began in 1927 with plenty of supplies, equipment and workers to get the project going. In later years a young artist named Korczak Ziolkowski would join the crew, learn as much as he could from Borglum and would later go on to create Crazy Horse monument. Borglum's original design depicted the presidents from head to waist but shortly after his death in 1941 and despite his son continuing the project, the federal funding was ended, in part due to World War II. For all of its' marvel and beauty, Mt. Rushmore was never actually finished.
Not long after work on Rushmore stopped, several Lakota Chiefs came togather and wanted to create their own monument in the Black Hills to honor Native Americans. Korczak Ziolkowski had just won first prize for a sculpture at New York's world fair and then spent time working on Mt. Rushmore. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote Korczak stating, "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too".
Korczak met with the leaders and planned the sculpture over the next couple of years. Korczak made a promise to leaders that he would create a magnificent monument to one of their great heros. Korczak would soon leave for World War II but upon his return he moved to the Black Hills and would begin work on an ambitious rendering of their great warrior Crazy Horse. Korczak vowed to create this monument, stating that he would like at least on promise from the white man be kept. He thought that it would take 100 years to complete the work.
The model was indeed ambitious, not to mention the enormous size and the fact that Korczak would start the work alone and with barely any equipment. He absolutely refused to take any government funding because he did not want to be beholden to any outside influence that could change or stop the work when they wanted to. Many of the early days consisted of Korczak working alone on the mountain with old outdated tools that barely worked. In later years he would have his wife and 10 children helping him and they began raising money through tours, donations, their own restaurant and other ventures. Korczak dedicated the rest of his life to almost nothing else and after his death in 1982 his family continued and still continues today, trying to keep Korczak's promise to Native Americans. Because the project has always been privately funded, work has never stopped since it's inception. There have been slow times and busy times but the family continues to push forward in hopes that Korczak's and the Lakota Leader's dreams will one day be realized.
These two sculptures are both amazing. Just to think about how they were created on such a large scale and with such accuracy. As I always say with most pieces of art, there's nothing like seeing them in person. If you do get a chance to visit them, be sure to watch the informational videos they provide in each visitor's center. The will give you the background information to help you understand more about these wonderful works of art.
Links:
https://crazyhorsememorial.org/the-mountain.html
https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/
Of course, the two main attractions in the Black Hills, are the two enormous sculptures, which thousands of people flock to see daily. The forever popular Mt. Rushmore, with its' depiction of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, is an American icon. The at one time lesser known but ever increasingly popular, Crazy Horse Memorial, when completed will be the largest mountain sculpture in the world. Some say that it will become the 8th Wonder of the World. These are both wonderful works of art, within 20 minutes from each other and one might be tempted to compare and find similarities between the two. After visiting the two, it may be easier to find more differences.
Mt. Rushmore has long been an American icon and a monument to 4 presidents. The likenesses of each president are very accurate and when you visit it in person, you can see some of the amazing detail in the figures. The idea for the project was conceived by Doane Robinson, who originally wanted to carve some of the beatiful spires of the region into images. Upon hiring Danish-American Gutzon Borglum to sculpt the project, Borglum was unhappy with site because of the poor quality of the granite and the strong but understandable opposition by Native American groups. They finally settled on Mt. Rushmore but Borglum wanted to sculpt something that would have a more national focus so he choose the 4 presidents.
US senator Peter Norbeck secured federal funding for the project and work began in 1927 with plenty of supplies, equipment and workers to get the project going. In later years a young artist named Korczak Ziolkowski would join the crew, learn as much as he could from Borglum and would later go on to create Crazy Horse monument. Borglum's original design depicted the presidents from head to waist but shortly after his death in 1941 and despite his son continuing the project, the federal funding was ended, in part due to World War II. For all of its' marvel and beauty, Mt. Rushmore was never actually finished.
Not long after work on Rushmore stopped, several Lakota Chiefs came togather and wanted to create their own monument in the Black Hills to honor Native Americans. Korczak Ziolkowski had just won first prize for a sculpture at New York's world fair and then spent time working on Mt. Rushmore. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote Korczak stating, "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too".
Korczak met with the leaders and planned the sculpture over the next couple of years. Korczak made a promise to leaders that he would create a magnificent monument to one of their great heros. Korczak would soon leave for World War II but upon his return he moved to the Black Hills and would begin work on an ambitious rendering of their great warrior Crazy Horse. Korczak vowed to create this monument, stating that he would like at least on promise from the white man be kept. He thought that it would take 100 years to complete the work.
 |
| The original Crazy Horse sculpture model. |
The model was indeed ambitious, not to mention the enormous size and the fact that Korczak would start the work alone and with barely any equipment. He absolutely refused to take any government funding because he did not want to be beholden to any outside influence that could change or stop the work when they wanted to. Many of the early days consisted of Korczak working alone on the mountain with old outdated tools that barely worked. In later years he would have his wife and 10 children helping him and they began raising money through tours, donations, their own restaurant and other ventures. Korczak dedicated the rest of his life to almost nothing else and after his death in 1982 his family continued and still continues today, trying to keep Korczak's promise to Native Americans. Because the project has always been privately funded, work has never stopped since it's inception. There have been slow times and busy times but the family continues to push forward in hopes that Korczak's and the Lakota Leader's dreams will one day be realized.
 |
| Crazy Horse Memorial 2016 |
These two sculptures are both amazing. Just to think about how they were created on such a large scale and with such accuracy. As I always say with most pieces of art, there's nothing like seeing them in person. If you do get a chance to visit them, be sure to watch the informational videos they provide in each visitor's center. The will give you the background information to help you understand more about these wonderful works of art.
Links:
https://crazyhorsememorial.org/the-mountain.html
https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/
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