Joseph Pollia

My Buddy (1925), Richmond Hill World War Memorial, Forest Park, Queens, New York City.

Joseph Pasquale Pollia (6 March 1894, Sicily, Italy – 12 December 1954, New York City)[1] was an Italian-born American sculptor who created numerous monuments and war memorials.

Biography

He and his family – parents Pasquale and Alexandra, and older sister Caterina – emigrated from Sicily to the United States in 1896, and settled in Boston, Massachusetts.[2] His father worked as a barber at 21 High Street.[3]

He studied with Bela Pratt at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.[4][5] He succeeded Joseph Bailey Ellis as director of the Modern School of Sculpture in Boston,[6] and taught summer courses at the Sawyer's Island Art School in Boothbay, Maine.[7]

He had an early success with his statue My Buddy (1925), for the Richmond Hill World War Memorial at Forest Park in Queens, New York City:[8]

The memorial features a strapping soldier who takes a moment to stand before the grave of a lost comrade. His head is bowed in contemplation of a small cross protruding from a mound of dirt. A helmet hangs from his right arm, leaving his lowered head bare, and showing off thick locks of hair that fall in waves onto his forehead.[9]

The soldier was reputedly modeled after silent movie star Francis X. Bushman.[10] Replicas of the statue are in Storm Lake, Iowa; Tarrytown, New York;[11] and Franklin, Massachusetts (as Mourning Doughboy).

Stonewall Jackson Monument (1938-40), Manassas, Virginia.

His most famous work is the Equestrian statue of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson at Manassas National Battlefield Park, near Gainesville, Virginia. The Virginia Fine Arts Commission announced a design competition for the monument in 1938, and his winning submission was chosen from 80 entries in March 1939.[12] The monument was dedicated August 31, 1940.[13]

[A] Herculean Jackson sits tall upon an equally muscular horse as he gazes out across Henry Hill. He wears a cape that appears to be lifted by a dramatic wind, lending itself to his heroic stance. The large lettering on the base of the monument boldly declares, "There Stands Jackson Like a Stone Wall," referencing the words purportedly spoken by General Bernard Bee at the Battle of first Manassas, immortalizing Jackson with his nickname.[13]

Pollia was a member of the Architectural League of New York and the National Sculpture Society, and exhibited at the 1929 NSS show.[5] He was elected an academician of the National Academy of Design in 1953.[14]

Death

News of his death was reported by several newspapers.[15] He and his wife, Mary G. Anastasi, are buried together at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara, California.

Selected works

War memorials

  • Civil War Soldier (1926), Jersey City, New Jersey.
    Civil War Soldier (1926), Jersey City, New Jersey.
  • Spanish War Memorial (1928), Stoneham, Massachusetts.
    Spanish War Memorial (1928), Stoneham, Massachusetts.
  • World War I Monument (1928–29), Barre, Massachusetts.
    World War I Monument (1928–29), Barre, Massachusetts.
  • It Shall Not Be Again (1934), Orange, Massachusetts.
    It Shall Not Be Again (1934), Orange, Massachusetts.
  • John Brown (1935), North Elba, New York.
    John Brown (1935), North Elba, New York.
  • Sheridan Memorial (1936), New York City.
    Sheridan Memorial (1936), New York City.
  • Monsignor Joseph Jessing (1938), Worthington, Ohio.
    Monsignor Joseph Jessing (1938), Worthington, Ohio.

References

  1. ^ Regina Soria, American Artists of Italian Heritage, 1776–1945: A Biographical Dictionary, (Fairleigh Dickinson, 1993), p. 178.
  2. ^ Joseph Pollia - 1900 Census Records, from MooseRoots.
  3. ^ Report of Proceedings of the City Council of Boston for the Year 1899, (Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1900), p. 578.
  4. ^ Opitz, Glenn B, Editor, Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
  5. ^ a b The National Sculpture Society, Contemporary American Sculpture, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San Francisco, (New York: Kalkhoff Co. Press, 1929).
  6. ^ The International Studio, vol. 61, no. 243 (May 1917), (New York: John Lane Company), p. 6.[1]
  7. ^ The School Arts Magazine, vol. 16, no. 9 (May 1917), (Boston: Davis Press), p. 400.[2]
  8. ^ Richmond Hill War Memorial, from NYC Parks.
  9. ^ Jennifer Wingate, Sculpting Doughboys: Memory, Gender and Taste in America's World War I Memorials. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2013. pp. 104-07.
  10. ^ Donald Martin Reynolds, Monuments and Masterpieces: Histories and Views of Public Sculpture in New York City, (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1988), p. 199.
  11. ^ "Tarrytown, New York – World War I Memorial," from Adventures in History (blog).
  12. ^ Pollia's plaster model at the National Sculpture Society's 1940 exhibition.[3]
  13. ^ a b Shae Adams, "Cultural Distortions: The Dedication of the Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Monument at Manassas National Battlefield Park," The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era, vol. 2, no. 3 (2011), pp. 9-26.
  14. ^ Joseph P. Pollia, from National Academy of Design.
  15. ^ Obituary, The Kansas City Times, December 14, 1954, p. 15.
  16. ^ The Atlanta Constitution, January 10, 1920, p. 10.
  17. ^ The Volunteer Fireman, from SIRIS.
  18. ^ Nick Stoner monument, from The Stoner Lakes, The Adirondacks.
  19. ^ Eberly Hutchinson, "The Stoner Statue," from Jeptha R. Simms, The Trappers of New York (1935).
  20. ^ Pulaski Monument, from SIRIS.
  21. ^ Shekilammy Boulder, from SIRIS.
  22. ^ Hail to the Sunrise, Around and About with Viv (blog).
  23. ^ Youth, from SIRIS.
  24. ^ John Brown Statue, from SIRIS.
  25. ^ Admiral Robert E. Peary Monument, from SIRIS.
  26. ^ Admiral Peary Monument, from Do Johnstown.
  27. ^ Wright Quadrangle Reliefs, from SIRIS.
  28. ^ 5 Maquettes by Joseph P. Pollia, from San Jose Museum of Art.
  29. ^ Richmond Hill World War Memorial, from SIRIS.
  30. ^ The Buddy Monument, from SIRIS.
  31. ^ Tarrytown World War I Memorial, from SIRIS.
  32. ^ Karen L. Davis, National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Franklin Common Historic District, January 2003, p. 3. PDF
  33. ^ Civil War Soldier, from SIRIS.
  34. ^ World War I Doughboy, from SIRIS.
  35. ^ 74th New York Infantry Statue, from Cuban Battlefields.
  36. ^ Membi Victoriese, from Trip Advisor.
  37. ^ Rockaway Beach War Memorial, from SIRIS.
  38. ^ Barre World War I Monument, from SIRIS.
  39. ^ Greenfield Spanish War Memorial, from SIRIS.
  40. ^ Iowa Veterans Home, from SIRIS.
  41. ^ Milford World War I Memorial, from SIRIS.
  42. ^ Spanish War Memorial, from SIRIS.
  43. ^ Suffolk and Nansemond World War Monument, from SIRIS.
  44. ^ It Shall Not Be Again, from SIRIS.
  45. ^ George C. Marshall Memorial Plaza, Uniontown, PA, from Waymarking.
  46. ^ Sheridan Memorial, from SIRIS.
  47. ^ Lynn World War I Memorial, from SIRIS.
  48. ^ Stonewall Jackson Monument, from SIRIS.
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