Patricia Cronin's Memorial to a Marriage in DC exhibition "Bodies and Soul"

                              

Patricia Cronin, Memorial to a Marriage, 2002 in bronze and marble.

Patricia Cronin: Bodies and Soul, Conner Gallery, Washington, DC , Febuary 4 - March 10

In July, this blog celebrated the marriage of New York artists Patricia Cronin and Deborah Kass, whose long-time commitment inspired Cronin's sculpture Memorial to a Marriage, 2002, permanantly installed in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.  The marble mortuary sculpture was accomplish in death that which seemed - in 2002 -  impossible in life.

Now the exhibition of the bronze version of this sculpture, on view at Conner Gallery in Washington, DC, celebrates the transition of this artwork from depicting a dream to immortalizing reality. 

Memorial to a Marriage is based on Gustave Courbet's Sleepers or Sleep (1866)

Gustave Courbet, The Sleepers, 1866

and the American neo-classicial tradition of the 19th century (Patricia Cronin studied and appropriated Harriet Hosmer's work for her exhibition Harriet Hosmer: Lost and Found  (June 2009-January 2010).

Harriet Hosmer, Beatrice Cenci, 1856.

For more information on Patricia Cronin's work, please visit her website: http://www.patriciacronin.net/.
And/Or read this interview in Sculpture Magazine.

I am tickled to death with all of these references to 19th century art, as  embark on a course on 19th century at Purchase College.  How lovely to connect the past to the present with such a romantic theme for Valentine's Day.

Best wishes to you and those you love -
Beth
New York Arts Exchange