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Brownsville Memorial
"Victory" shows a tall, draped, female figure
in striding pose, bearing a sword in hr right hand and a shield strapped to her left
arm. The striding pose, carefully adjusted to the front plane gives the figure a sense
of movement and the arrangement of the limbs has been carefully harmonized with the
architectural frame.
The arms, sword, and head reaffirm the border of the frame and lend the image an
elegance and clarity which is in harmony with the severe spirit of the architecture
itself. Rumsey's acute sense of the role of the frame is evident in the treatment
of the wings that pass just beyond its border. In the contrasts between light and
shadow, for example, where chiseled furrows meet solidly rounded flesh in the head
and hair,
Rumsey shows his new mastery of the medium of stone. In its bold profiles and strong
graphic design, Rumsey rapidly reached a new level of achievement, creating one of
the finest works of his career, and a small masterpiece of early twentieth century
American architectural sculpture.
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