Probably Alan
LeQuire, sculptor from Nashville, is universally
known as the author of the reproduction of Athena
Parthenos of Pheidias for the Parthenon of his city.
There are two things in common between the Athenian
artist and LeQuire: an authentic passion for colossal
statues and the origins,
so to speak, pictorial.
Pheidias, in fact, according to Plinius, began
practically as a painter. LeQuire, instead, began to breathe art at home thanks
to his mother, who was a painter. And we cannot forget that drawing is an art
that the same LeQuire does not neglect.
An artist with a creative horizon which is classic but
with a much modern artistic heart: and a substantial part of it, is
Italian.
"I lived in Bracciano in 1978-1979, and I return to Italy as often as
I can", so he told us. "I worked for
an American sculptor, Milton Hebald, and I
worked in an Italian bronze foundry. My real mentors are Giacomo Manzù, Emilio Greco,
and Venanzo Crocetti."
Mr. LeQuire, the statue of Athena Parthenos was
inaugurated in 1990, but how many years have you worked on it?
I began work on Athena Parthenos in 1982. I unveiled her for the first time
in 1990. Twelve years later I spent two
months finished the gilding (23k. gold leaf) and painting.
We unveiled her again in 2002.
Throughout the process I worked very closely with the world’s leading
archaeologists especially, Evelyn Harrison, and Brunilde Ridgway in the U.S. and George Mylonas in Greece.
It seems that the face of your Athena resembles an Hollywood diva: is it a good impression?
Yes, I would say she looks a a bit like a Vegas show girl with all the gold, but I was following the advice of the expeerts, and I tried my best not to impose my own aesthetic ideas onto the sculpture.
That is true for the colors as well. I think Pheidias was an expert painter, for example, but because we have nothing that is definitively by his hand, I was limited to the colors found on pottery from the 5th century. Not a very appealing palette, or technique.
That is true for the colors as well. I think Pheidias was an expert painter, for example, but because we have nothing that is definitively by his hand, I was limited to the colors found on pottery from the 5th century. Not a very appealing palette, or technique.
