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The Bowman and The Spearman – by Ivan Mestrovic

Installed: 1928

Location: Congress Plaza Gardens,
S. Michigan Ave. (100 E) & E. Congress Pkwy. (500 S) .. Chicago, IL 60604.

 Bronze figures / H 17 ft. each

Commissioned by the B.F. Ferguson Monument Fund, to commemorate Native Americans.

Sculptor Ivan Mestrovic intended his monumental figures to commemorate the Native American and symbolize the struggle to settle this country. The figures are lean and muscular, tensed for the actions of hurling a spear and releasing an arrow. Mestrovic has heightened the forcefulness of these gestures by making viewers use their imaginations to supply the missing weapons. Although they are modeled in-the-round, the equestrians are viewed to their most monumental effect as relief silhouettes against the sky.

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To create the bronze pair, trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago’s B.F. Ferguson Fund commissioned Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962), an internationally-acclaimed sculptor from Croatia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Mestrovic came to Chicago in 1926 when the Art Institute presented an exhibition of his work. Mestrovic cast the pieces in Yugoslavia, and said that though the horses represent those from his home more than the American prairie warriors’, they captured the vitality of Chicago. The equestrian figures are poised to shoot an arrow and throw a spear; however, neither holds a weapon. Although there is a long-held belief that the bow and spear were removed and never returned, this is an urban myth. The sculptor quite consciously omitted these items, leaving the weapons to the imagination of the viewers.

*NOTE* – Ivan Mestrovic [1883-1962] is a world renowned sculptor. Though born in Croatia, he later took American citizenship. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had personally presided over the ceremony to grant Mestrovic the American citizenship in 1954!!! He was the first person to have a one man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

 

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The Bowman and Spearman are part of Congress Plaza Gardens.
Here we see Magdalena by Dessa Kirk [click here..],
with Bowman and Spearman in the background.

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RELATED LINKS

Public Art in Grant Park.. click here..
Public Art in Loop.. click here..
Home: Public Art in Chicago.. click here..

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