Iwo Jima Monument--at Auction
The original Iwo Jima Monument, honoring the U.S. Navy and Marines who fought and died in the epic WWII battle is being auctioned off in New York by Bonhams on Madison Avenue. The 10,000 lb sculpture evoking the dramatic flag raising on Mt. Suribachi by the American Marines in February 1945, recalls "A symbol of wartime bravery, national unity, and of the Marine Corps."
The original monument, sculptured between June and September, was placed outside the Navy Department in Washington DC from November 1945 to 1947. The statue was soon moved to make way for the new Pan American Union building. Designed by Austrian-born artist Felix de Weldon, the monument had a tumultuous history before returning to the sculptor's studio and falling into disrepair.
In 1995, the Monument went to the Intrepid Air Space Museum in New York where it was on exhibit until 2007. Later the monument which belonged to the amazing "War Museum" private collection of Rodney Hilton Brown, went into storage.
The Monument is based on the famous Joe Rosenthal photo of the American flag raising. Indeed Felix de Weldon was to design the larger (and better known) Arlington Marine Corps Memorial which dates from 1954.
The Iwo Jima Monument is the centepiece of Bonhams "World War II; The Pacific Theater," which complies an extraordinary array of vintage flags--including one from the ill-fated Battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbor, period posters, ship models and photos. The presentation also includes captured Japanese flags, swords and even torpedo gyros! There are also items relating to General Douglas MacArthur, the
the Supreme Commander of Pacific operations.
Equally there are plaster maquettes of the Marine Corps Memorial from the de Weldon studio.
Bonham's auction coincides with the 68th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima which was fought in late February 1945.
On Sunday 25 February 1945 newspapers across America carried the now iconic Rosenthal flag-raising photo! Sadly the War in the Pacific still had nearly six months to go before VJ Day.
Captured Japanese flag inscribed with the names of US Marine MP squad
.
