The environment of Columbus monumentlocated in the service zone of the Port of Huelva in the Huelva Sebo Pointtoday has a tribute sculpture to her sculptor, the American artist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Best known in Huelva as Miss Whitney. The sculpture is the work of the Huelva sculptor Martín Lagares (the palm of the county) and is inspired by the day of the inauguration of the monument, the April 21, 1929since it consists of a reproduction of the figure of Miss Whitney from a photograph that was taken that day, in which the sculptor appears next to the sketch of the Monument to Columbus.
In the act they have been present the great -grandson of the sculptor Whitney Miller Douglass, the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía, Patricia del Pozo, as well as the president of the port of Huelva, Alberto Santana; the mayor of the city, Pilar Miranda; the deputy of Sports and Management Unit of the Rabida, Juan Daniel Romero; The sculptor Martín Lagares, the journalist and writer Eduardo Sugrañes and representatives of the Huelva associations linked to the Colombian world such as the Huelva New York Association, the Royal Society of Colombia, the Ibero -American Cultural Association, the House of Iberoamérica de Huelva, the Association of Ibero -American Studies Rábida, the Ibero -American Cultural Center Collective, and the Pinzonian Palost Society, among other authorities and personalities.
The event has had the participation of the Municipal Music Symphony Band of Huelvawhich has interpreted several musical and hymns pieces.
The sculpture has an approximate size of 1.80 meters high and 0.80 meters wide and is placed on a reinforced concrete shoe, with placed basement of stone of the same characteristic than those used in the environment of the Monument to Colón.
150 anniversary of the birth of the sculptor
The president of the Port of Huelva, after thanking the sculptor’s family from displacement from the United States, as well as the assistance of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality of the Junta de Andalucía and the presence of different authorities and personalities, has exposed that recently 96 years of the inauguration of the monument to Columbus have recently been The 150th anniversary of the birth of the sculptor (January 9, 1875, New York).
Alberto Santana has assured that «with the inauguration of this sculpture by the port of Huelva, We pay a deserved tribute to a brave woman, Committed to art and advanced to its time, in addition, we take the opportunity to continue approaching the port to the city, providing the environment of the Monument to Columbus of content, as artistic and historical elements to promote its tourist visit and promotion in a space of great value for the history of Huelva and the province, since it remembers our close relationship with the American continent ». In this context, the president of the port of Huelva recalled that The cross of La Rabida has recently opened in this place, which begins the Colombian road to the sanctuary of Our Lady of the film, Patroness of Huelva.
For her part, the mayor of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, said that, with the sculpture of Miss Whitney, the author of the monument to Columbus whose presence and work whose presence and work is paid “They constituted a whole female revulsion in the 1929 Huelva.” The Huelva governor has underlined the importance of this monument to the adoptive daughter of Huelva: “It has an important avenue in its name in the city, but with this sculpture and in this space, we get it permanently present.”
An indissoluble binomial
Miranda has insisted that «City council and port must be an indissoluble binomial to build the future of Huelva »and that they must” continue working to become projects that are a priority for both the port of Huelva and the City Council, putting Huelva above all. ” The mayor has also congratulated Martín Lagares, author of the monument, “for coating this tribute from sculptor to sculptor, with this work she would feel proud and happy.”
The Minister of Culture and Sports has highlighted the importance of “paying tribute to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, A modern woman who chose a free and independent way of lifeplacing itself with its own name in the avant -garde of the international culture of the first half of the 20th century ». Del Pozo has congratulated Huelva “for bringing Andalusia back to this artist and patron almost a century after he was on our land for the last time and for doing so, precisely, in the artistic way in which she was a real teacher: sculpture.”
For Del Pozo, the philanthropic work of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the famous Whitney Museum of American modern art in New York, Sometimes he has relegated his work as a sculptor in the background, «something that has never happened in Huelva, A city proud to have the only work of this author in Spain: The Monument to Columbus, an extraordinary piece that remembers a colossal feat while celebrating a past shared by Spain and America ».
The deputy of Sports and Management Unit of the Rabida of the Provincial Council of Huelva, Juan Daniel Romero, has assured that «Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney left in Huelva an indelible legacy with the monument to Colón and this sculpture honors his memory and enriches our heritage ». Romero has pointed out that “from the Diputación de Huelva we continue working to strengthen historical and cultural ties with America and this work pays tribute to those who left an indelible legacy in our province and enriches a public space deeply linked to our common history with America.” In addition, he stressed that “the provincial institution of Huelva, together with the Huelva port, continues to work to preserve, recover and project that legacy, convinced that art and memory are powerful tools for understanding and cooperation between peoples.”
“My family wants to thank you for this wonderful city of Huelva for honoring her, a woman who really believes she was a great artist”
Whitney Miller Douglass
Genthrude Vanderbilt Whitney sculptor great -grandchildren
The great -grandson of the sculptor, Whitney Miller Douglass, He thanked the port of Huelva and the rest of the institutions and entities this tribute to his great -grandmother: “My family wants to thank you for this wonderful city of Huelva for honoring her, a woman who really believes she was a great artist.” In addition, he has highlighted his professionalism, since he was a person “very dedicated to his art and who worked hard in his sculptures many hours a day,” in addition to investigating “his songs, especially monuments, such as that of Christopher Columbus, the Titanic memorial and Buffalo Bill ».
For his part, the sculptor of the work, Martín Lagares, has highlighted that “the realization of this monument has the special importance for me to represent the artist who made one of the great symbols of the province.” The artist stressed that «the monument to Columbus is a whole sculpture milestone, both for its size and its originality, its personality, His personal aesthetics, his faithfully reflected authenticity in his sculptures … “and has assured that” representing all that has undoubtedly assumed an extra motivation for the execution of this monument in such a privileged environment. “
The journalist and writer, Eduardo Sugrañes, who has promoted the creation of sculpture, said that «this monument is, in addition to recognition of the author of the Monument to Columbus, it is also a one of the most important sculptors of the international artistic landscape; at the same time that it is a reference in the vindication of women’s role in society». In addition, he said that “in this way it will be permanently at the tip of the sebum next to one of his most emblematic works, sign of identity of the province of Huelva.”
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