Thorfinn Karlsefni (sculpture)

Last updated

Thorfinn Karlsefni
Thorfinn Karlsefni 1918.jpg
Artist Einar Jónsson
Year1920
TypeBronze
Dimensions210 cm× 140 cm× 120 cm(84 in× 54 in× 48 in)
LocationPhiladelphia
Coordinates 39°58′13″N75°11′24″W / 39.9702°N 75.19005°W / 39.9702; -75.19005
OwnerCity of Philadelphia
Fairmount Park Commission

Thorfinn Karlsefni is a bronze statue of Norse explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni, created by Icelandic sculptor Einar Jónsson. The first casting was located in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, United States, before being toppled by vandals in 2018. A second casting of the statue is in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the original plaster model is located in the Einar Jónsson Museum.

Contents

History

The artwork was commissioned by Joseph Bunford Samuel through a bequest that his wife, Ellen Phillips Samuel, made to the Fairmount Park Art Association, [1] specifying that the funds were to be used to create a series of sculptures "emblematic of the history of America", [2] which would eventually become the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial. The statue was installed along Philadelphia's Kelly Drive, near Turtle Rock Light, and unveiled on November 20, 1920. [3] The artwork was one of 51 sculptures included in the Association for Public Art's Museum Without Walls: AUDIO™ interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture. [4]

Protests and vandalism

By the 21st century, the statue had become a common rallying location for local white supremacy groups. In time, these rallies led to counter protests and vandalism of the statue. [5] [6] In the early morning hours of October 2, 2018, police were called to the statue's location and found it had been toppled from its stone base, which broke the head from the body, after which it was dragged into the nearby Schuylkill River. During recovery, a crane was needed to remove the statue, which weighs several thousand pounds, from the river. [7] [8]

As of 2020, the statue was being conserved, but the City of Philadelphia had no timeline for its reinstallation and was taking the appropriation of the statue by hate groups into consideration as it made plans for the future. [9]

Inscriptions

External audio
Nuvola apps arts.svg Thorfinn Karlsefni (1915–1918), Association for Public Art, Audio only (archive.org)

The inscriptions formerly read:

Sculpture, lower proper left:
Einar Jonsson
sculptor
1915-18 [10]

On back of Karlsefni's shield: Icelandic verse:
From the island of the North, of ice and fire,
Of blossoming valleys and blue mountains,
Of the midnight sun and the dreamy mists,
The home of the goddess of northern lights. [11]

Base, front:
Thorfinn Karlsefni
Icelander
1003-1006 [10]

Base, front plaque:
Following Leif Ericson's Discovery of
North America in 1003, Thorfinn Karlsefni
with 165 men and 35 women established a
settlement which lasted for 3 years and
his son Snorri was born in North America
Leif Ericson Society of Pennsylvania
Scandinavian Craft Club of Philadelphia
October 9, 1974
[10]

Reykjavík casting

Reykjavik version of the statue (
64deg08'54''N 21deg52'03''W / 64.14833degN 21.86751degW / 64.14833; -21.86751 (Thorfinn Karlsefni (sculpture) Reykjavik, Iceland)) Statue by Einar Jonsson created 1915-1918 of Thorfinn Karlsefni.jpg
Reykjavík version of the statue ( 64°08′54″N21°52′03″W / 64.14833°N 21.86751°W / 64.14833; -21.86751 (Thorfinn Karlsefni (sculpture) Reykjavík, Iceland) )

In the late 1930s, the city of Reykjavík paid for another casting of the statue to be made for the 1939 New York World's Fair. [12] The statue stood next to one of two entrances to Iceland's exhibit at the Hall of Nations for the duration of the fair (with a casting of the statue of Leif Erikson by Alexander Stirling Calder at the other entrance). [13] After the fair, the statue of Thorfinn went to Reykjavík. In June 1947, it was erected on a small islet in a pond just south of Tjörnin [14] (today this pond is called Þorfinnstjörn). In 1962, the statue was removed from the islet. [15] The casting now resides in the Laugardalur district of Reykjavík, near a retirement home and movie theater. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinland</span> Area of coastal Canada explored by Norse Vikings

Vinland, Vineland, or Winland was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Eriksson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. The name appears in the Vinland Sagas, and describes Newfoundland and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence as far as northeastern New Brunswick. Much of the geographical content of the sagas corresponds to present-day knowledge of transatlantic travel and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik the Red</span> Norse explorer

Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland. Erik most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair and beard. According to Icelandic sagas, Erik was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson; to which Thorvald would later be banished from Norway, and would sail west to Iceland with Erik and his family. During Erik's life in Iceland, he married Þjódhild Jorundsdottir and would have four children, with one of Erik's sons being the well-known Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson. Around the year of 982, Erik was exiled from Iceland for three years, during which time he explored Greenland, eventually culminating in his founding of the first successful European settlement on the island. Erik would later die there around 1003 CE during a winter epidemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leif Erikson</span> Norse explorer (c. 970 – c. 1020)

Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky, was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According to the sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is usually interpreted as being coastal North America. There is ongoing speculation that the settlement made by Leif and his crew corresponds to the remains of a Norse settlement found in Newfoundland, Canada, called L'Anse aux Meadows, which was occupied approximately 1,000 years ago.

Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir was an Icelandic explorer, born at Laugarbrekka in Snæfellsnes, Iceland.

<i>Saga of Erik the Red</i> Icelandic saga about the Norse exploration of North America

The Saga of Erik the Red, in Old Norse: Eiríks saga rauða, is an Icelandic saga on the Norse exploration of North America. The original saga is thought to have been written in the 13th century. It is preserved in somewhat different versions in two manuscripts: Hauksbók and Skálholtsbók.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingólfr Arnarson</span> 9th century Norse explorer

Ingólfr Arnarson, in some sources named Bjǫrnólfsson, is commonly recognized as the first permanent Norse settler of Iceland, together with his wife Hallveig Fróðadóttir and foster brother Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson. According to tradition, they settled in Reykjavík in 874.

<i>Skræling</i> Peoples the Norse Greenlanders encountered in North America

Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the peoples they encountered in North America. In surviving sources, it is first applied to the Thule people, the proto-Inuit group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century. In the sagas, it is also used for the peoples of the region known as Vinland whom the Norse encountered and fought during their expeditions there in the early 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Rush (sculptor)</span> American sculptor

William Rush was a U.S. neoclassical sculptor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is considered the first major American sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Einar Jónsson</span> Icelandic sculptor (1874–1954)

Einar Jónsson was an Icelandic sculptor, born in Galtafell, a farm in southern Iceland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Stirling Calder</span> American artist (1870–1945)

Alexander Stirling Calder was an American sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-known works are George Washington as President on the Washington Square Arch in New York City, the Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia, and the Leif Eriksson Memorial in Reykjavík, Iceland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorvald Eiriksson</span> Icelandic explorer

Thorvald Eiriksson was the son of Erik the Red and brother of Leif Erikson. The only Medieval Period source material available regarding Thorvald Eiriksson are the two Vinland sagas; the Greenland Saga and the Saga of Erik the Red. Although differing in various detail, according to both sagas Thorvald was part of an expedition for the exploration of Vinland and became the first European to die in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thorfinn Karlsefni</span> 11th century Icelandic explorer

Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010, he followed Leif Eriksson's route to Vinland in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir and their followers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hallgrímskirkja</span> Church in Iceland

Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft) tall, it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. Known for its distinctively curved spire and side wings, it has been described as having become an important symbol for Iceland's national identity since its completion in 1986. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), author of the Passion Hymns.

<i>Saga of the Greenlanders</i> Icelandic saga about the Norse exploration of North America

Grœnlendinga saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. Like the Saga of Erik the Red, it is one of the two main sources on the Norse colonization of North America. The saga recounts events that purportedly happened around 1000 and is preserved only in the late 14th century Flateyjarbók manuscript.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association for Public Art</span> US nonprofit public art organization

Established in 1872 in Philadelphia, the Association for Public Art (aPA), formerly Fairmount Park Art Association, is the first private, nonprofit public art organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning in the United States. The association commissions, preserves, promotes, and interprets public art in Philadelphia, and it has contributed to Philadelphia being maintaining of the nation's largest public art collections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nína Sæmundsson</span> Icelandic-born American sculptress and painter (1892–1965)

Nína Sæmundsson or Nina Saemundsson, born as Jónína Sæmundsdóttir was an Icelandic artist, known for her sculptures and paintings. She was active between the 1920s until the 1960s in Los Angeles, New York City, and Iceland. She worked as a New Deal artist within the Federal Art Project in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial</span> Public memorial in Philadelphia

The Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial is a sculpture garden located in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The garden, located along the left bank of the Schuylkill River between Boathouse Row and the Girard Avenue Bridge, was established by the Fairmount Park Art Association and dedicated in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Leif Erikson (Reykjavík)</span> Statue in Reykjavík, Iceland

Leifr Eiricsson, sometimes called the Leif Eiricsson Memorial, is statue of Norse explorer Leif Erikson created by American artist Alexander Stirling Calder. The artwork was commissioned by the United States government as a gift to the Icelandic people for the 1,000th anniversary of the Alþingi in 1930. The statue was unveiled on July 17, 1932, in Reykjavík, Iceland atop a hill overlooking the city.

References

  1. "Full text of "The Icelander Thorfinn Karlsefni who Visited the Western Hemisphere in 1007"" . Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  2. "Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial Sculpture Garden | Association for Public Art". Associationforpublicart.org. June 20, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  3. "Interactive Art Map | Thorfinn Karlsefni | Association for Public Art". Associationforpublicart.org. November 20, 1920. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  4. "Museum Without Walls: Thorfinn Karlsefni". Fairmount Park Art Association. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. Bender, William (October 18, 2013). "Skinheads, protesters headed to Fairmount Park". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Theodórsdóttir, Emma (2021). "Entangled Duality of a Viking Statue: Þorfinnur Karlsefni". The After Monument. Design Academy Eindhoven (Information Design Masters program). Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  7. Stamm, Dan (October 2, 2018). "Philly's Thorfinn Karlsefni Statue Toppled Into Schuylkill River". NBC10 Philadelphia. Philadelphia. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  8. Newhouse, Sam (October 2, 2018). "Viking statue turned 'flashpoint' between skinheads and Antifa toppled into Schuylkill River". Metro . Philadelphia. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  9. Thompson, Gary (January 30, 2020). "Where is the toppled Boathouse Row Viking statue?". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 "Art Inventories Catalog: Thorfinn Karlsefni, (sculpture)". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  11. Samuel, J. Bunford, ed. (1922). The Icelander Thorfinn Karlsefni Who Visited the Western Hemisphere in 1007. Privately published. p. 26.
  12. "Heimssýningin í New York: Afsteypur af Leifsstyttunni og styttunni af Þorfinni karlsefni verða reistar við hús Íslandssýningarinnar í New York" [The World's Fair in New York: Casts of Leif's statue and the statue of Thorfinn Karlsefni will be erected at the Iceland Exhibition in New York]. Vísir (in Icelandic). Reykjavík. October 24, 1938. p. 2. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  13. "Iceland: Hall of Nations". 1939 New York World's Fair. Paul M. Van Dort. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  14. "Þorfinnur karlsefni í Hljómskálagarðinum" [Thorfinn Karlsefni in Hljómskálagarður]. Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Reykjavík. June 8, 1947. p. 12. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  15. "Þorfinnur karlsefni tekinn af stalli" [Thorfinn Karlsefni Removed from Pedestal]. Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Reykjavík. November 7, 1962. p. 24. Retrieved December 3, 2023.