Hands accross the divide

The challenges in Northern Ireland were represented by the Irish sculptor Maurice Harron, through his 'Hands accross the divide'  metal sculpture made in 1991.
Maurice Harron studied sculpture at the Ulster College of Art and Design in Belfast.

Two men, each belonging to opposing groups, standing on top of a wall, still searching to live in peace and harmony. And what seems a huge pit between them.

The monument is located in Derry (LondonDerry), on Carlisle Square. The sculptor Maurice Harron is from there as well. Done in 1991, it was unveiled the following year, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 'Bloody Sunday' during which 13 persons were killed by the British Army during a civil rights demonstration.

Photo Britain Magazine - Stock

Sources
French text about the sculpture
Britain Magazine

Male couple sculpture in Ancient Egypt (1)

For the coming St Valentine day, I suggest today the story of possibly the first male couple sculpture  in the history!

'Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were two ancient royal servants who shared the title of “Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of King Niuserre.” 

On their tomb, these two men are sculpted in a very intimate pose, reportedly the one allowed by Egyptian artistic conventions: face to face, with their noses touching. 

Niankhkhnum means “joined to life” and Khnumhotep means “joined to the blessed state of the dead;” together their names mean “joined in life and death.” 

Some archeologists describe them as the first same-sex couple in recorded history. The picture below shows a detail from their tomb dating to around 2350 BC.  '

Below is the stone engraving or 'bas-relief' of this couple.

Sources :
Wikipedia, and a very interesting article from the New York times, here :  nytimes

Painting inspired by this couple - Artist unknown

Nisus and Euryalus

To remain on the spirit of gay love, I suggest for today's sculpture Nisus and Euryalus, the beautiful work from Jean-Baptiste Roman, French sculptor born 3 years after the French Revolution.

photo by Juanda Contreras.

Nisus and Euryalus were two soldiers from Troy, and their love and frienship was so deep that they were ready to die for each other if needed. Nisus was older than Euryalus.

Sculpture detail - the lovers' hands

Sculpture detail - 3 feet

As Virgil wrote in his "Eneide' (that I had to translate years ago!) they were though warriors, serving under Enee. They are a typical example of the Greek lovers from that time, ie a teenager and a young man, whom many served in the famous Theban army. And would fight with more power than a lover to protect his lover ?

The sacred band of Thebes was a group of selected elite soldiers, made of 150 couples of male lovers. They won many battles during almost 30 years, like the famous one of Leuctra, between 378 BC and 338 BC.

Nisus and Euryalus left their home to follow Enee in Italy. One evening, as Enee was not there, Nisus who was guarding the soldiers camp thought he could go inside the Rutules enemy territory to capture their chief. Euryalus approved the project, but did not want Nisus to go alone. He asked someone to take care of his mother, and they left together.

Departure of Nisus and Euryalus, by the French painter Girodet

After having killed several sleeping Rutules soldiers, they met a Roman soldiers group led by Volcens. Nisus succeeded to escape, but Euryalus was captured, and would soon be killed. So seeing this from a distance, Nisus came back and asked to be killed instead of the young Euryalus. But Euryalus throat was cut, Nisus killed Volcens to revenge for it, before to be killed himself as he was embracing Euryalus.
This is the summary of Virgil story in the 9th book of Eneide.

Nisus and Euryalus by the French sculptor Jean Baptiste Roman -1827 - Louvre Museum - Paris

Sculpture detail- photo by Olivier Daaram Noolant

The sculptor Jean-Baptiste Roman is born, and died, in Paris (1792-1835). Several of his marble sculptures are displayed in the Louvre museum, usually around mythology or historic figures.
He won two 'Prix de Rome', had sculptures commissioned by the king Louis-Philippe the first.
He also sculpted contemporary portraits like the bust of the French painter Girodet.
Jean-Baptiste Roman received the Legion d'Honneur in 1827.

Sources: Wikipedia, Louvre Museum.

Christopher park and the 'Stonewall' gay sculptures from George Segal

Almost 35 years ago, in 1979, pop sculptor George Segal was commissioned by the Mildred Andrews Fund, a private Cleveland-based foundation that supports public art, to create a sculpture that would commemorate the famous 1969 rebellion in front of the Stonewall bar in New York.
That rebellion and riots marks the beginning of the modern gay liberation.
Below are some pictures of this life-size sculpture.

Picture by Wally Gobetz

Picture by Yotsuba

                                 
One plaque gives credit to the sculptor and foundation, and another one allows the public to know more about the location, the bar, the park, the artist, the foundation, etc. The long text is part of the NYC Historical Signs Project.

                                    

Below is a photograph of a sculpture copy, installed on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California (copyright Ingrid Taylor).

George Segal biography and more détails on his artist's life and works can be seen in wikipedia here and at the Artist's Cafe here. A retrospective was also held in 2002 at the Hermitage in St Petersburg (see here).

Intimacy 3

This is the 3rd part of my serie Intimacy, expressing male love.
Showing tenderness of two males lying on their bed, 'spooning' and resting. This was made possible thanks to 2 guests of Villa Rainbow, posing for me during their stay.

Bronze with green patina 8 by 8 by 3 in. Limited Edition /8.

Intimacy 2

Intimacy 2 is part of my willingness to first sculpt a serie of male couples, maybe because I would have loved to see or touch similar sculptures as a teenager...!

Intimacy 1

The overview of this bronze sculpture.

Intimacy 1 - details

This sculpture of a male couple lying peacefully on their bed is entitled 'Intimacy 1'
It is in bronze, with green patina. Dimensions 8 by 8 by 3 inches.
Here are some 'details' then the overall picture will follow.