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Donald De Lue (1897-1988)

Web Portraits: Home, Alexander Calder, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Henry Moore, Andy Warhol, Barbara Hepworth, Michelangelo, Philip Martiny, Bela Lyon Pratt, Donald De Lue, Prof. G. Besji, G. Ruggeri, Joe Brown, Randolph Rogers, Robert Delandre,

Donald De Lue Papers

  • Department of Special Collections Syracuse University Library Syracuse, NY 13244
  • American sculptor - Incoming and outgoing correspondence (1957-1964); photographs of work (1941-1965); and published material by and about De Lue.

Book: The Sculpture of Donald De Lue Gods, Prophets, and Heroes

  • D. Roger Howlett hc; 256 pages; 79 color, 210 b & w; 9 1/2 x 12 1/4 0879238208 Antique Collectors' Club
  • The first monograph devoted to this great American figurative sculptor. Lavishly illustrated in color and black and white, the book follows the artist from the days of his apprenticeship in the Boston studios of Richard Recchia, Bela Pratt, and Robert Baker to his last day in his Leonardo, New Jersey studio

De Lue, Donald (Harcourt) at Biography.Com

  • De Lue, Donald (Harcourt) 1897 -- 1988
  • Sculptor; born in Boston, Mass. He studied in Boston and Paris, established a studio in New York City (1938), and lived in Leonardo, N.J. He is known for his heroic and large sculptures, as in his bronze, The Rocket Thrower (1964--65).

Philadelphia Public Art @philart.net

Boston.com - Boston Magazine - John Axelrod has spent much of his life acquiring and dealing art. Now, his collection is so large it's spilling into museums. Lucky museums.

  • His new area of interest was pottery and ceramics, particularly a California group called the Funk Artists. "I wanted to get away from wall things," he recalls. His interests expanded to sculpture, and he eventually orchestrated a wholesale sculpture venture with the artist Donald De Lue and D. Roger Howlett, the president and owner of Childs Gallery on Newbury Street. Axelrod even contributed to Howlett's book on the artist.

George Washington - Historian General Larry D. McClanahan chronicles the amazing life of this remarkable Virginian.  (National Society, Sons of the American Revolution web site)

  • The Cover Photo captures this dramatic bronze statue depicting George Washington at prayer at Valley Forge. It was a 1967 gift to the Freedoms Foundations, which is located at Valley Forge, from the Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. It was sculpted by the renowned artist Donald De Lue and stands a majestic nine feet tall

New York 1964 World's Fair - Building Fair

  • It was understood from the very beginning that official sanction by the Paris based Bureau of International Expositions would not be forthcoming. Their requirements that the fair take place within a single year and that each country be given 5,000 square feet of space rent free could not be met. It became difficult to persuade foreign nations to build national pavilions at the Fair.
  • Contemporary art, other than for five official commissions for sculptures at the Fair like Donald De Lue's "The Rocket Thrower," was not sponsored by Fair officials.
  • New York 1964 World's Fair - Technology
    • Even the Fair's Unisphere with its three satellite orbit rings, symbolized the human emergence into space. Viewed from the edge of the pool, the Unisphere had the dimensions Earth would have if viewed from a height of 6000 miles. Nearby sculptures, "The Rocket Thrower: and "Forms in Space" were symbols of the Space Age.

Jacksonville.com Calendar Museums 05-14-99

  • Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens: 829 Riverside Ave. ''Gods Prophets, and Heroes: The Sculpture of Donald De Lue,'' drawings, maquettes and bronze sculptures through June 23. Museum hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday (no admission charge 4 p.m. to 9 p.m on Tuesday only); 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday and major holidays. Admission: $6 for adults; $4, seniors and military with ID.; $3 students; $1 children 5 and under; and free for members. (904) 356-6857.

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens - Jacksonville, FL

  • 1999: May 6-August 29: "Gods, Prophets and Heroes: The Sculptures of Donald De Lue"
  • Current Exhibitions - April 29 – June 24 Gods, Prophets, and Heroes: The Sculpture of Donald De Lue Organized by Copley Square Exhibition Services in cooperation with the Childs Gallery
  • Antiques and Art Around Florida - A&ARF - Museum Schedule North Florida

Childs Gallery - A Guide to Boston Art.  The sculpture department has works in figurative bronze from the late 19th century to the 1980s; work by Donald De Lue, Walker Hancock and Albert Wien are specialties.

  • Donald De Lue Photo - "Spirit of American Youth", American (1897-1988), 36", bronze / 1952, Edition of 12, This is the study which was approved for the 22 foot high figure at the Omaha Beach Memorial in Normandy , France

Spirit Triumphant Statue

  • The director of the U.S. Civil War Center at LSU pledged last fall that Louisiana would be the first state to raise the funds to restore its bronze monument at Gettysburg National Battlefield in Pennsylvania.
  • Sculpted by Donald De Lue, Louisiana's 24-ft. monument has as its central figure an angel, the "Spirit Triumphant," symbolizing the spirit of survival for a once-divided nation and the hope for a country again united. The eternal flame held in one hand symbolizes that the dead are never forgotten. She blows a clarion, held in her other hand, to assure the unknown dead who fell in battle that they are not forgotten, even in their anonymity. At the base of the monument lies the figure of a fallen cannoneer of the Washington Artillery, covered with a Confederate battle flag.

Coleville American Military Cemetery

  • The Memorial consists of a semi-circular colonnade with a loggia at each end. On the platform is a 22 foot bronze statue, the "Spirit of American Youth", a tribute to those who gave their lives in these operations. Around its base is the inscription:

    MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD.

    The sculptor was Donald De Lue of New York City. 

  • On the walls within the south loggia are 3 battle maps engraved in the stone and embellished with coloured enamels. These maps were designed by Robert Foster of New York City from data furnished by the American Battle Monuments Commission. They were executed by Maurice Schmit of Paris.
  • American Battle Monuments Commission
    • At the entrance to each loggia are two large bronze urns, also designed and sculptured in high relief by Donald De Lue and cast by Marinelli foundry of Florence, Italy. There are two identical pairs. On the face of one urn a dying warrior holding the sword with which he has fought the good fight is astride a charging horse which symbolizes War. The Angel of the Lord supports him and receives his spirit. On the reverse side of this urn a woman kneels, holding her child, beside the wreath-decorated grave of a soldier. About them shines the Star of Eternal Life. This composition is dedicated to the sacrifices and hardships of the women and children bereaved by war. The laurel leaf design around the top is symbolic of Victory and Honor.
    • On one side of the other urn, a figure represents the Lord as related in Genesis, Chapter I: "The spirit of the Lord moved on the face of the waters". The spray of laurel, on the representation of the waters, recalls to memory those who lost their lives at sea. The rainbow is the symbol of hope and peace. The reverse side of this urn shows a figure of an angel pushing away the stonesymbolic of resurrection and eternal life.

National Sculpture Society, Sculpture Review March 1952 Past Issues

  • Modern vs. Non-Modern "He is thoroughly grounded on contemporary art, and with him we would have exhibits by such men as Wayman Adams, John C. Johansen, Leopold Seyffert, Sidney E. Dickenson, Leon Kroll, Vaughn Flannery, Nicolai Fechin, Robert Brachman, and many more. We would see sculpture by Wheeler Williams, Donald De Lue, Paul Manship, James Earle Fraser and his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser, Cecil Howard, and Polasek. For the first time since 1920 the Chicago Art Institute would admit and support the fact that there are two schools of contemporary art in the United States, one stemming from war-torn Europe, the modern, and one growing out of the couragious and honest soil of America, the non-modern...." Eleanor Jewett

SPARTY and the Figurative Tradition in Sculpture

  • Sculpture representing the human form may be referred to as "figurative." Figurative sculpture may be relatively realistic or more stylized. Other artists in America working in the figurative tradition--whether realistic or stylized--in the first third of the 20th century included sculptors like Donald De Lue, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Malvina Hoffman, Paul Manship, Carl Milles, and Marshall Fredericks, to name only a few. Some, like Milles, who had worked with Rodin, brought European traditions with them. Other sculptors like Manship and Lee Lawrie, whose work includes THE SOWER on Beaumont Tower, went beyond the realistic into the Moderne or Deco idiom, while remaining in the figurative tradition. By the 1940s and 50s, however, the realistic mode was largely eclipsed. Jungwirth [Leonard D.]  was one of the exceptions.
  • Today, however, there has been a resurgence in figurative sculpture. Artists like Frederick Hart continue in the realistic tradition, and magazines like Sculpture Review and American Art Quarterly focus exclusively on the representational. Artists from other countries, such as Antonio Lopez Garcia of Spain and Ousmane Sow of Senegal, use the figure in a more stylized mode. A major exhibition of the 1995 Biennale di Venezia was "Identity and Alterity: Figures of the Body 1895/1995." The human form in art continues to fascinate, compel--and sometimes provoke--the artist and the viewer

The Municipal Art Society - Public Art Adopt-A-Monument

  • [Photo] A commitment to preserving community history marks the sponsorship of The Rocket Thrower by Donald De Lue in Flushing Meadows - Corona Park, Queens. The Promethean figure was commissioned for the 1964 World’s Fair as a symbol of space exploration. Funding came from the Queens Borough President, the Queens Heritage Foundation and the Drackett Company. The project was embraced by Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, whose daughter happens to be an astronaut! The restoration will take place this summer.

Queens Courier

  • Queens L, M - Monuments: "ROCKET THROWER" — 1964, Donald De Lue, Bronze Statue, granite pedestal. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Airbrush Action - Artist Robert Rodriguez

  • The style indeed originated out of his passion for sculpture. In the first four or five illustrations that Rodriguez did while developing this look, he painted as if the subjects were made of white marble. On vacation in Europe, he can be found snapping photos of works by Paul Manship, Donald De Lue, the Martel brothers, and other great sculptors of the period. Asked if he's ever been tempted to try sculpting himself, Rodriguez admits that he's got the clay, and one of these days he's going to get around to it.

LC Library New Acquisitions - January 1999

  • NB 237.D44 H69 1990 The sculpture of Donald De Lue : gods, prophets, and heroes / by D. Roger Howlett ; with contributions by Joseph Veach Noble ... [et al].

Smithsonian Institution Research Information System - Entries for author=de lue

To get detail for each item, go to SIRIS, click Art Inventories on the left.  When the search page comes up, enter de lue in the search box, select author and press search.

Artist: De Lue, Donald, 1897-1988,
Title Owner Call Number
(Stations of the Cross), (sculpture). Sisters of St. Joseph Willowdale, Toronto, Ontario, 76005812
(White Bronze Plaque), (sculpture). Interchurch Center, New York, New York 63910003
American Eagle, (sculpture). Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 76009533
Apex Group, (sculpture). Unlocated. 76005813
Arcturus, (sculpture). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 20490061
Athelete, (sculpture). United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland 76009537
Benjamin Franklin and Josiah Willard Gibbs, (sculpture). Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 76009530
Boy Scout Memorial, (sculpture). United States Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia 76009553
Brookgreen Gardens Medal 1978-1979, (sculpture). Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina 64300048
Creation, (sculpture). Junior High School, New York, New York 76009535
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (sculpture). Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas 88410048
Eagles, (sculpture). United States Court House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 76009528
Edward Hull Crump Memorial, (sculpture). City of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee 76009532
Eve, (sculpture). Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee 49670010
Family Group, (sculpture). Christian Herald Building, New York, New York 76009539
Faun, (sculpture). Unlocated. 76005809
Faun, (sculpture). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 20490038
Federal Reserve Bank Door: The New England States, (sculpture). Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 76009534
Fisherman, (sculpture). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 20490062
France, (sculpture). U. S. Battle Monument, St. Laurent, Normandy, 76009550
General George Washington Kneeling in Prayer, (sculpture). Freedom Foundation, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 76009554
George Washington as Master Mason, (sculpture). City of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan MI000399
George Washington Kneeling in Prayer, (sculpture). George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus, New Jersey NJ000549
George Washington Monument, (sculpture). City of New York, New York, New York NY000098
George Washington, (sculpture). George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia 54340001
George Washington, (sculpture). State of Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana IN000005
George Washington, (sculpture). Masonic Home and Hospital, Wallingford, Connecticut CT000004
George Washington, (sculpture). State of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan MI000621
George Washington, (sculpture). Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Massachusetts 87740207
Head of Corpus, (sculpture). Sisters of St. Joseph Willowdale, Toronto, Ontario, 76009547
Icarus, (sculpture). Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia 8580522
Icarus, (sculpture). Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina 76009542
Law and Justice (2 panels), (sculpture). United States Department of General Services, Washington, District of Columbia 76009527
Life and Healing, (sculpture). Abraham Jacobi Hospital, New York 76009538
Lions of Judah, (sculpture). Germantown Jewish Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 76009548
Memorial Urn, (sculpture). City Hall, Stockholm, 76009543
National Academy of Design: 150th Anniversary Medallion, (sculpture). National Academy of Design, New York, New York 36270052
Normandy Beach Head Figure, (sculpture). U. S. Battle Monument, St. Laurent, Normandy, 76005808
Nymph, (sculpture). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 20490039
Nymph, (sculpture). Unlocated. 76005807
Penelope, (sculpture). National Academy of Design, New York, New York 36270051
Quest Eternal, (sculpture). City of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 87740063
Quest Eternal, (sculpture). City of Orlando, Orlando, Florida FL000351
Rocket Thrower, (sculpture). City of Orlando, Orlando, Florida FL000634
Shelley Hayden Memorial, (sculpture). Located 76009544
Society of Medalists - 56th Issue, (sculpture). Unlocated. 76009526
Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy, (sculpture). United States Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia 76005811
Spirit of American Youth, (sculpture). Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina 64300047
St. Francis, (sculpture). Located California 76009546
St. Michael and a Knight Crusader (2 Figures), (sculpture). Unlocated. 76009524
St. Michael Triptychs, (sculpture). Citizens Committee of the Army and Navy 76009540
Stations of the Cross (14), (sculpture). Loyola Seminary, Shrub Oak, New York 76009536
The Alchemist, (sculpture). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 76009541
The Atom, (sculpture). Unlocated. 76009525
The Death of St. Joseph, (sculpture). Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Illinois 76009545
The Mountaineer, (sculpture). West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia WV000033
The Rocket Thrower, (sculpture). City of New York, New York, New York 76002360
Thomas Jefferson, (sculpture). Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas 88410047
Thomas Jefferson, (sculpture). Jefferson Parish, Harahan, Louisiana LA000146
Triton Fountain, (sculpture). Federal Reserve Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 76009529
U. S. Battle Monument Urn: The Spirit of the Lord Moved Over the Face of the Waters, (sculpture). U. S. Battle Monument, St. Laurent, Normandy, 76009549
U.S. Battle Monument Urns, (sculpture). U. S. Battle Monument, St. Laurent, Normandy, 76005810
United States, (sculpture). U. S. Battle Monument, St. Laurent, Normandy, 76009551
Untitled, (sculpture). University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 39210021
War Memorial Chapel pieces, (sculpture). Virginia PolyTechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 75008308
Washington, (sculpture). City of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana 88350035
What is Man That Thou Art Mindful of Him, (sculpture). Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 20780185

Also:

Artist: Fraser, James Earle, 1876-1953, sculptor.
De Lue, Donald, 1897-1988, sculptor.
Gugler, Eric, designer.
Title: The Harvey S. Firestone Memorial, (sculpture).
Date: 1950. Dedicated Aug. 3, 1950.
Medium: Portrait of Firestone: bronze; Relief panels: granite; Base: granite.

Related?

Courier Gazette Happenings 11/22/96 issue By Carolyn Adriaansen (926-4436)

  • Thanks! from the family of Donald De Lue to those who remembered them with cards, flowers, prayers and other remembrances. It was greatly appreciated.

Leonard William De Lue articles - born: March 31, 1907 - died: Abt. 1973

  • One of the most colorful careers in the police and crime investigation history of the Rocky Mountain region was ended yesterday when Leonard De Lue, 66, founder and head of the De Lue Detective agency, died in the Mayo Hospital at Rochester, Minn
  • De Lue Family Pictures

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