<<

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.

<

>

08.JPG