Navy-Marine Memorial, (sculpture).

Navy-Marine Memorial, (sculpture).

Del Piatta, Ernesto Begni, ca. 1880-1939, sculptor.

Corbett, Harvey Wiley, 1873-1954, architect.

Aluminum Company of America, fabricator.

Navy-Marine Memorial, (sculpture).

Designed 1922. Dedicated Oct. 13, 1934.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: cast aluminum; Base: polished green granite.

Sculpture: approx. 35 x 30 x 18 ft.

(Sculpture, back:) TO/THE STRONG SOULS AND READY VALOR/OF THE MEN OF/THE UNITED STATES/WHO IN THE NAVY THE MERCHANT MARINE/AND OTHER PATHS OF ACTIVITY/UPON THE WATERS OF THE WORLD/HAVE GIVEN LIFE AND STILL OFFER IT/IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HEROIC DEEDS/THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED/BY A GRATEFUL PEOPLE unsigned

Sculpture depicts seven seagulls flying together just over the top of a breaking wave. The sculpture rests on a rectangular polished green granite base in the middle of an elevated slate plaza.

Animal -- Bird -- Gull

History -- United States -- World War I

Waterscape -- Sea

Outdoor Sculpture -- Virginia -- Arlington

Administered by United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, District of Columbia

Located Lady Bird Johnson Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Arlington, Virginia

The sculpture honors American servicemen serving in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps who died at sea during World War I. School children, sailors, officers, and government officials contributed $339,737.40 to build the memorial, but it was not enough to fund the elaborate base originally planned by the artist in 1922. In the original plans, the sculpture was to have rested on base of green granite carved in a design which would simulate the movement of the sea. This base would have been adorned with bronze plaques illustrating the history of the Navy and the Marine Corps. As a substitute, when the piece was dedicated in 1934 it was mounted on a rough concrete base funded by the U.S. Government. The concrete base was replaced by a less elaborate green granite base by the Works Progress Administration in 1940. The Goode publication notes that the artist added a thin coat of green pigment to the undersides of the waves and wings of the gulls and a thin coat of yellow pigment to the tops of the waves and wings of the gulls.

Inscription on a free-standing commemorative plaque located on the north side of the memorial reads: IN WAR AND IN PEACE, IN COMMERCE/AND IN TRAVEL, IN RESCUE AND IN/DISCOVERY, IN FISHERIES AND IN/RESEARCH, THIS NATION HAS FORGED A/BOND WITH AND A DEPENDENCE ON/THE SEA. THIS MONUMENT OF WAVES/AND GULLS MEMORIALIZES OUR/NATIONAL LIFE AT SEA. IT IS DEDICATED /TO THE THOUSANDS OF MEN; WHO/HAVE PERISHED IN THE SEA AND TO/THOSE WHO DESTINY IS STILL LINKED/WITH OUR NAVAL AND MARITIME/SERVICES. THE RELIEF ON THE SIDES OF/THE PEDESTAL OF THE MEMORIAL/ILLUSTRATE, BY DIRECT OR SYMBOLIC/REPRESENTATION, ALL THESE ACTIVITIES./PLAQUE PRESENTED BY THE/UNITED STATES COAST GUARD IN 1990 ON THE OCCASION OF ITS BICENTENNIAL

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Virginia survey, 1995.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 207.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, E-21.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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