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Seward Statue in Alaska - Printable Version

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Seward Statue in Alaska - Gene C - 07-06-2017 03:03 PM

I missed this.
It would probably help if it got more press.

http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Statue-of-William-Seward-unveiled-outside-state-Capitol-on-150th-anniversary-of-Alaska-Purchase-432378153.html


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - L Verge - 07-06-2017 03:29 PM

I wonder what image was used as the inspiration for this. I am so used to seeing the Civil War Seward that this sculpture just doesn't look like Seward. Who's our Seward expert here that can ease my mind?


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - Rogerm - 07-06-2017 04:31 PM

I agree that the facial features of Seward on this sculpture do not match those of him in his photographs.


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - Eva Elisabeth - 07-06-2017 04:42 PM

Can't help it - looks like French to me. Not like Seward.


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - Linda Anderson - 07-06-2017 05:01 PM

This may be the only statue of Seward depicting him after the injuries he received from the carriage accident on April 5 when he broke his jaw and Lewis Powell's attempt to kill him on April 14.

"Sibling sculptors David and Judith Rubin didn't shy away from reflecting Seward's battle scars in their new statue of the orchestrator of the 1867 Alaska purchase.

"'Why make him look pretty the way he did when he was young, when he'd already been disfigured by the time he came to Alaska?' said Ketchikan-based artist David Rubin. 'We don't have to have revisionist history. We can do it the way it was.'"

https://www.adn.com/arts/2017/06/30/a-new-william-seward-statue-will-be-unveiled-in-juneau-scars-and-all/

Seward's face is the haunted one of someone who has seen his wife, Frances, and his daughter, Fanny, die as a result of the emotional trauma of Powell's attack on his family.

Dave Taylor has a photograph of Seward after the attack.

https://boothiebarn.com/tag/seward/


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - L Verge - 07-06-2017 06:20 PM

(07-06-2017 05:01 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  This may be the only statue of Seward depicting him after the injuries he received from the carriage accident on April 5 when he broke his jaw and Lewis Powell's attempt to kill him on April 14.

"Sibling sculptors David and Judith Rubin didn't shy away from reflecting Seward's battle scars in their new statue of the orchestrator of the 1867 Alaska purchase.

"'Why make him look pretty the way he did when he was young, when he'd already been disfigured by the time he came to Alaska?' said Ketchikan-based artist David Rubin. 'We don't have to have revisionist history. We can do it the way it was.'"

https://www.adn.com/arts/2017/06/30/a-new-william-seward-statue-will-be-unveiled-in-juneau-scars-and-all/

Seward's face is the haunted one of someone who has seen his wife, Frances, and his daughter, Fanny, die as a result of the emotional trauma of Powell's attack on his family.

Dave Taylor has a photograph of Seward after the attack.

https://boothiebarn.com/tag/seward/

Thanks, Linda, for posting this other article with the sculptor(s) thoughts.

I suspect that most of us have seen that one photo taken late in life after the attack by Powell; but I'm sorry, I just don't see the same features in that statue.

I'm glad that the people of Alaska are happy with it because Mr. Seward does need more recognition for his "folly." However, the facial expression on this statue makes it look like Seward just fought Putin in order to win Alaska! He doesn't look haunted; he looks ready to kill someone (imo).


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - RJNorton - 07-07-2017 04:02 AM

(07-06-2017 06:20 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I suspect that most of us have seen that one photo taken late in life after the attack by Powell;

The first time I ever saw it was in Kennedy and Lincoln: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations by Dr. John K. Lattimer. Was it ever published prior to that?

(For those folks who do not have it, Dr. Lattimer's book is a fascinating read combined with many photos and diagrams.)


RE: Seward Statue in Alaska - LincolnMan - 07-23-2017 03:06 PM

I'm glad he has a statue. Well deserved!