Facts and Froth with Jill Lowe
Dispatch from Croatia In Zagreb in May 1927, as the equestrian statues The Bowman and The Spearman, sculpted by Croatian artist Ivan Meštrović, “left the foundry on a cart drawn by six horses, the people of Zagreb came out of their houses to bid them farewell, as if it were a funeral.” The 17 feet high sculptures traveled by train to Trieste and were placed on the President Wilson to New York, then by train to Chicago in four huge crates, to be situated on opposite sides of Congress Parkway at the entrance to Grant Park. The prolific and revered architect and sculptor Ivan Meštrović was commissioned to design the equestrian statues, by the Ferguson Fund which was managed by Chicago Art Institute Directors, who knew Meštrović and whose chair was Potter Palmer. The motivation of Meštrović, in sculpting the monumental mounted American Indian warrior statues was to spotlight the native American Indians fight for survival, and to commemorate them, so it was perplexing that in 2021 the statues became included in the list of monuments and memorials in Chicago singled out for misrepresentation of American Indians. Croatian officials in Chicago subsequently met with Chicago City Council and have assured that it is unlike the statues would be removed, although undoubtedly Croatia would gladly take them back. The figures are lean and muscular, tensed for the actions of hurling a spear and releasing an arrow. Meštrović has heightened the forcefulness of these gestures by making viewers use their imaginations to supply the missing weapons. Although they are modeled in-the-round, the equestrians are viewed to their most monumental effect as relief silhouettes against the sky.
Images license Shutterstock
1