Luigi Del Bianco | |
---|---|
Born | May 8, 1892 Meduno, Italy |
Died | January 20, 1969 76) | (aged
Nationality | Italian |
Citizenship | Italian American |
Known for | Sculpture |
Luigi Del Bianco (May 8, 1892 - January 20, 1969) was an Italian-American sculptor, and chief carver of Mount Rushmore. [1]
Bianco was born on a ship near Le Havre, France, on May 8, 1892, to Vincenzo and Osvalda Del Bianco, who were returning from the United States to Italy. [1] He showed interest in carving at a young age, and spent time in Austria and Venice studying the art. [2]
When Bianco was 18 years old, he left for America, arriving in Barre, Vermont. [2]
When World War I broke out, Bianco returned to Italy and fought for his home country, eventually returning to Vermont in 1920. Bianco's brother-in-law introduced him to Mount Rushmore designer Gutzon Borglum, and Bianco began working at Borglum's studio. [2]
In 1933, Borglum hired Bianco as chief stone carver on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Paid $1.50 an hour, Bianco was charged with carving the detail in the faces. He carved Abraham Lincoln's eyes, and patched a dangerous crack in Thomas Jefferson's lip. [2]
Borglum constantly praised Bianco for his great abilities as a classically trained stone carver: "He is worth any three men in America for this particular type of work." "He is the only intelligent, efficient stone carver on the work who understands the language of the sculptor." "We could double our progress if we had two like Bianco."
Before Mount Rushmore Bianco worked on Stone Mountain and Wars of America memorial with Borglum. [3]
On September 16, 2017, the National Park Service unveiled a memorial plaque at Mount Rushmore. The plaque acknowledged Luigi Del Bianco's crucial role as the only chief carver on the work.[ citation needed ]
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation, respectively. Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually to the memorial park which covers 1,278 acres. The mountain's elevation is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.
Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, 16 miles (26 km) east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Georgia.
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georgia, statues of Union General Philip Sheridan in Washington D.C. and in Chicago, as well as a bust of Abraham Lincoln exhibited in the White House by Theodore Roosevelt and now held in the United States Capitol crypt in Washington, D.C.
Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor. He is most noted for his depiction of frontier life, and especially his experience with cowboys and native Americans.
Borglum can refer to:
The history of sculpture in the United States begins in the 1600s "with the modest efforts of craftsmen who adorned gravestones, Bible boxes, and various utilitarian objects with simple low-relief decorations." American sculpture in its many forms, genres and guises has continuously contributed to the cultural landscape of world art into the 21st century.
Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson was an American historian who was the state historian of South Dakota. He is known for conceiving of the idea for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills, which he believed would stimulate tourism to the area.
Walker Kirtland Hancock was an American sculptor and teacher. He created notable monumental sculptures, including the Pennsylvania Railroad World War II Memorial (1950–52) at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, and the World War I Soldiers' Memorial (1936–38) in St. Louis, Missouri. He made major additions to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., including Christ in Majesty (1972), the bas relief over the High Altar. Works by him are presently housed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the United States Capitol.
Meduno is a comune (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of Trieste and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) northeast of Pordenone. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,737 and an area of 31.2 square kilometres (12.0 sq mi).
James Lincoln de la Mothe Borglum was an American sculptor, photographer, author and engineer; he was best known for overseeing the completion of the Mount Rushmore after the death of the project's leader, his father, Gutzon Borglum, in 1941. One of his best-known works, a bust of his father, is on display outside the Lincoln Borglum Visitors Center at Mount Rushmore.
The construction of Mount Rushmore National Memorial began on October 4, 1927, and took 14 years to complete. The sculptor of the memorial was Gutzon Borglum, the son of Danish immigrants. He chose the two most famous presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and chose Thomas Jefferson because of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Theodore Roosevelt was suggested by Calvin Coolidge. Borglum's original design was intended to go down to their waists, but time constraints and funding only provided for their heads.
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
Korczak Ziolkowski was a Polish-American artist and sculptor known for designing the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Wars of America is a colossal bronze sculpture by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his assistant Luigi Del Bianco containing "forty-two humans and two horses", located in Military Park in Newark, New Jersey. The sculpture sets on a base of granite from Stone Mountain.
Seated Lincoln is a 1911 sculpture by Gutzon Borglum, located next to the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1995, for its significance in art.
General Philip Sheridan is a bronze sculpture that honors Civil War general Philip Sheridan. The monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, best known for his design of Mount Rushmore. Dedicated in 1908, dignitaries in attendance at the unveiling ceremony included President Theodore Roosevelt, members of the President's cabinet, high-ranking military officers and veterans from the Civil War and Spanish–American War. The equestrian statue is located in the center of Sheridan Circle in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The bronze statue, surrounded by a plaza and park, is one of eighteen Civil War monuments in Washington, D.C., which were collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The sculpture and surrounding park are owned and maintained by the National Park Service, a federal agency of the Interior Department.
The Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar was an American fifty-cent piece struck in 1925 at the Philadelphia Mint. Its main purpose was to raise money on behalf of the Stone Mountain Confederate Monumental Association for the Stone Mountain Memorial near Atlanta, Georgia. Designed by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, the coin features a depiction of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on the obverse and the caption: "Memorial to the Valor of the Soldier of the South" on the reverse. The piece was also originally intended to be in memory of the recently deceased president, Warren G. Harding, but no mention of him appears on the coin.
Norbeck-Williamson Act of 1929 or Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act of 1929 established the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission defining the powers and purpose of the twelve member committee. The Act of Congress authorized the Mount Harney Memorial Association of South Dakota to stone carve models of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt in the Harney National Forest encompassed by the Black Hills National Forest. The granite sculpture was to be created in accordance with the rock relief designs by Gutzon Borglum.
Del Bianco is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Cora Babbitt Johnson was an American journalist and preservationist known for her vocal opposition to the Mount Rushmore project in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A Black Hills local herself, she worked as editor-in-chief of the Hot Springs Star newspaper for eight years before becoming a features writer for other publications of the Great Plains. As part of the early conservation movement in the United States, Johnson raised concern over the Mount Rushmore project's potential impact on the local ecosystem, community, and natural beauty of the Black Hills.