‘A Soldier’s Journey’ in the Light of Glory

We’re looking forward on our next trip to Washington to visiting the new memorial in respect of World War I. It is due to be unveiled September 13, when the world will see for the first time what — from glimpsing photos of the work in progress — are extraordinary sculptures of doughboys in action. These are the creations of sculptor Sabin Howard, a master of the classical school of sculpture at a time when such magnificent art is all too rare.An early glimpse of the memorial was issued in June in a scoop by Smithsonian Magazine. The sculpture — “A Soldier’s Journey” — has been years in the making, Smithsonian reports, and will serve as the centerpiece of the National World War I Memorial at Washington’s Pershing Park. Mr. Howard’s “immense frieze will tell the story of an American reluctantly answering the call to war” and “the grand symbolic story of the nation all at once.”At the heart of the composition, in the sculptor’s telling, is a depiction of “massive animalistic kinetic energy,” led by a commander of a unit on the Western Front in France. It’s a rendering of Belleau Wood, when the American troops charged into the enemy lines at the urging of a sergeant of the Marines, Dan Daly, who famously yelled, as Mr. Howard put it, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” The national memorial to the veterans of World War I is long overdue. Some 116,000 Americans lost their lives in the conflict — about double the toll of Vietnam — and yet the war’s scars would, to a degree, end up being subsumed by the even greater cataclysm of World War II. All the better to see the sacrifices and heroism of America’s doughboys, who fought “to keep the world safe for democracy,” celebrated with artwork of this caliber.These columns have marked some of the new art being inspired by World War I. These editorials include our paean to the film masterpiece “They Shall Not Grow Old,” which refurbishes old footage to capture the military experience, including combat in the trenches and fields of battle in the Great War. “Birdsong of Peace” marks the record in sound that Britain’s Imperial War Museum extracted from tactical recordings of the moment the war ended. These are magnificent works of art, and it looks like the new memorial in Washington will rank right up there. Mr. Howard’s sculpture, Smithsonian reports, spans five scenes, from the soldier’s departure for battle to his return home, and 38 larger-than-life-size human figures. It will extend nearly 60 feet long and ten feet high. “And,” Smithsonian says in what seems like a reasonable assessment, “it may become the greatest memorial bronze of the modern age.”That’s quite a statement, given the tremendous works already extant. We think of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts (Shaw fell in action against the Confederates at Charleston). Not to mention paintings; we think of John Singer Sargent’s “Gassed,” which was painted from notes and sketches by Sargent at a gassing station he visited during World War I and which now is with the Imperial War Museum.Some of the era’s great works — including the statue of Theodore Roosevelt that once stood in front of the Museum of Natural History — have been attacked or removed by the Philistines. Even a statue of Jefferson at New York’s City Hall has been hidden away by the comrades on the City Council. So it’s encouraging to see major new works, like “A Soldier’s Journey,” being commissioned in our time and destined to inspire Americans for generations.

‘A Soldier’s Journey’ in the Light of Glory

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