Victory

William Zorach, Victory, 1944, French marble, 42 381512 18 in. (107.738.130.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Susan Morse Hilles, 1971.76

Artwork Details

Title
Victory
Date
1944
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
42 381512 18 in. (107.738.130.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Susan Morse Hilles
Mediums
Mediums Description
French marble
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — other — triumph
  • Figure female — torso
  • Figure female — nude
Object Number
1971.76

Artwork Description

William Zorach created Victory to memorialize the 1944 Allied victory over German forces after D day. It was one of the artist's biggest successes, and one enthusiastic critic judged it "one of the finest sculptures ever done in this country" (Lansford, Art Digest, March 15, 1947). To suggest the early tradition of commemorating battles with statues of the goddess Victory, Zorach evoked the "simple pure loveliness" of an ancient Greek statue by making the work as simple as possible, covering the torso in the barest of skirts, and creating a smooth silhouette (Zorach, "General Survey of the Background of Modern Sculpture," Lecture I, presented at Columbia University, Summer 1939, Zorach Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution).

Works by this artist (744 items)

William Zorach, Innocence (Figure of Girl - Dahlov), 1928, cast and patinated plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.143
Innocence (Figure of Girl — Dahlov)
Date1928
cast and patinated plaster
On view
William Zorach, Mother and Child (study), ca. 1926, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.153
Mother and Child (study)
Dateca. 1926
plaster
On view
William Zorach, The Builder (study for Chase Bank), ca. 1960, cast and patinated plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.29
The Builder (study for Chase Bank)
Dateca. 1960
cast and patinated plaster
On view

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Paul Manship, Susanna (#1), 1948, marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Paul Manship, 1966.47.1
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Date1948
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Jean de Marco, Eve, 1940, marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Clara Fasano, 1968.131
Eve
Date1940
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Paul Manship, Study for Venus Anadyomene, 1924, bronze on marble base, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Paul Manship, 1966.47.57
Study for Venus Anadyomene
Date1924
bronze on marble base
On view