BoxRec

A nice collection of statues from all around the world http://www.johnnyfamechonstatue.com/sta ... oxers.html

www.mrboxhist.se

Very nice page - thank you for the post - the Joe Louis statues are a mix, some better than others - the statues of Oscar Bonavena and Billy Costello are wanting - most of the others are quite well done - but the Kid Chocolate and Carmen Basilio statutes go way beyond being just honorary, both are very nice pieces of art. (Not surprisingly the Kid Chocolate statue is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago) - I added the Basilio photo/statue to my desktop; gonna look at it for a while; need to search for a better pic of it . . .

mrboxhist wrote:A nice collection of statues from all around the world http://www.johnnyfamechonstatue.com/sta ... oxers.html

http://www.mrboxhist.se

APerno wrote:Very nice page - thank you for the post - the Joe Louis statues are a mix, some better than others - the statues of Oscar Bonavena and Billy Costello are wanting - most of the others are quite well done - but the Kid Chocolate and Carmen Basilio statutes go way beyond being just honorary, both are very nice pieces of art. (Not surprisingly the Kid Chocolate statue is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago) - I added the Basilio photo/statue to my desktop; gonna look at it for a while; need to search for a better pic of it . . .

- Jeez, it don't look much like Carmen, but rather scarily a prime version of a friend of mine who couldn't fight his way out of a bag of marshmallows. He was however a damned fine architect noted for his form follows function, simple, natural designs. The model seems to be of a traditional posed fighter form as here easily recognized as Carmen:



The only good ones were stylized, the Kid Chocolate, and the Jack Dempsey which is the best for capturing his spirit and physical dynamism. Carmen is nice work, but it just ain't him.

Most of the sculptures are horrid probably due to budget constraints. Duran looks like some goof asleep on his feet and they shrunk the gargantuan Primo down to a midget. Tubby Lar looking at a wet dream of what he wished he looked like was priceless though. Capturing real life proportions, spirit, and dynamic animation is always a challenge and infinitely more so the more out of scale the piece is. I remember that horrid Lucille Ball statue that came out of some horror movie parents don't let their kids see. The village took up a petition to return the disaster to the sculptor. The the fate of being roosted upon by pigeons, defaced by vandals, or toppled by an invading army as happened to Saddam's grand statue, I'd abstain from any statue of me or my family.

How ever a good buddy of mine, Roberto Garcia Jr, was an artist in our college years, and I have his beautiful oil of a young woman of perfection with a hawk perched on her forearm in a New Mexican canyon above my bed. Last I heard he crafted the beautiful monument to George Washington outside of Laredo city hall. No good images could be found, so I found a news report of his latest project complete with patina of Spanish Explorer Joseph de Escandon who mapped south Texas where he was born.



Now, that's fist to be reckoned with! He was very laid back, but growing up in Laredo I'm sure he learned how to fight.



If I ever get the money, I'll commission him for the dynamic Jack Dempsey/Joe Louis fantasy fight and put it in my front yard. Roberto is the real deal for statues.

The results are mixed, to say the least. Some pieces are horrible like Joe Louis, Jack Johnson, Primo Carnera, Joe Frazier and Oscar Bonavena. Others are truly great like the moving memorial of the victims of the plane crash in Poland 1980, and the best of the lot, the Ancient Greek Boxer. It is a marvellous work.
Thus, quality aside, It is a good thing that old boxers are displayed like this.

www.mrboxhist.se

I like the Randy Turpin statue...and have seen it in real life as well, the sculptor has done a great job...genuinely good and if you are going to Warwick (to see the castle perhaps) then it is worth the detour.

Was a student in the area for three years and was always a tad disappointed at the time that Randolph seemed to be so anonymous and this bit of work corrects that oversight.

I was intially a bit confused that Warwick rather than Leamington Spa opted to honour Randy...afterall he was known as the Leamington Licker.

But Randy's father had very strong connections with Warwick and overall the Turpin family seemed to have had strong links with both towns...which are extremely close to each other anyway and almost overlap; so a shared world champion

There's also a Blue Plaque in Leamington Spa to mark Randy's birthplace which is good.

- This an example of what most serious sculptors strive for, The Tejas Warrior done by a very underrated woman, Allie Tennant in the 1930s, using a Native American Indian subject often ignored in this form in her day. Standing outside like any proper Indian would be when not in repose, he looms over the cast bronze entrance in the portico of the Great Hall of State at the Texas State Fairgrounds. About 11' tall cast in bronze and plated in gold, magnificently perhaps aiming at Apollo for leading all these interlopers into his lands.







Here is the great Greek sculpture of the fighter. As much a character study as a work of art:



Jack Johnson I of course love to pillory, but he was quite the specimen in his prime. This work is still fresh from only a few years ago and absolutely FAILS from the protruding lower belly intersecting with the flat upper, the protruding behind, the non fighter not even a human pose to the noggin looking like a James Toney transplant. JJ'd take a sledgehammer to this idiocy and haul it off to the metal recyclers.



This is the image captured in still in what is actually a highly dynamic follow through while sending Ali to the canvas with a left hook. The lighting used in the photo blacks out the eyes, so ignoring that, this sculptor captured the finest essence of Joe's greatest moment as a fighter. Compare a different angle of the photo and how about some love for them green jammies:





Here is the full fight link I never tire of watching. How Ali and his supporters ever claim to have been robbed speaks volumes about the nasty politics behind him. Never seen another great so comprehensively whooped and chopped down to size in his prime. Joe had high blood pressure and a bad eye and couldn't be sanctioned today. Mercante didn't help when he jabbed a finger in Joe's good eye. We should all be humbled by such a great performance by Joe who overcame so many obstacles in his life:


http://boxingmemories.com/wp-content/up ... entury.jpg


Dynamism in still and look at them flowing trunks. Jack looks too big to fight in the front door of his own museum.



Found Roberto's website, http://www.garcia-art.com, where this George Washington image was lifted:

Better than what soccer players are stuck with... yikes.

This is not a boxing pic - but thought it might be of interest in talking about the good and bad - it is Walter Johnson (picture) - the artist (Omri Amrany) was trying to capture Johnson's pitching motion in a statue (of all places) - what you are looking at are multiple right arms and a ball supposedly in motion - Walter Johnson's grandson stated "It just doesn't work." I agree!

The statute is located outside the Washington Nationals ball park in D.C.



from: Mentalfloss http://mentalfloss.com/article/55343/10 ... ous-people

@Jaywheel...very true

Presumably the sculptor is a secret Barca fan?