Gates of Remembrance, (sculpture).

Gates of Remembrance, (sculpture).

Rapaport, Rita, sculptor.

Gates of Remembrance, (sculpture).

Holocaust Memorial, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Approx. 15 ft. x 160 in. x 19 in.

(At base of sculpture:) Gates of Remembrance/sculptor/Rita Rappaport (sic)

A pair of locked gates flanked by two posts. The gates have plaques with reliefs of Holocaust symbols. The reliefs depict the Hebrew text of the word "Remember," torn fabric with a prisoner's number, barbed wire, broken Ten Commandment tablets and a flaming Bible. The posts are bent at the top, as if flames. Behind the monument are two groups of four stone blocks which form a curved wall. The front of each block has the name of a concentration camp. The reverse of each block contains lists of friends and benefactors who made the monument possible. The top face of all but the two end blocks contains a quote relating to the Holocaust.

History -- Europe -- Holocaust

Architecture -- Detail -- Gate

Ethnic -- Hebrew

Religion -- Judaism

Object -- Written Matter -- Bible

Allegory -- Element -- Fire

Religion -- Old Testament -- Ten Commandments

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- White Plains

Garden of Remembrance, Martine Avenue & Grove Street, White Plains, New York

IAS files contain the text of the quotes on the tops of the blocks which comprise the curved wall, and text of stone plaque on one side of the sculpture which gives significance of garden. A small stone plaque on ground on opposite side of sculpture reads: GATES OF REMEMBRANCE/THESE GATES OF REMEMBRANCE WERE CREATED IN 1992 BY RITA/RAPPAPORT TO MEMORIALIZE THE SUFFERING, AND DEATH OF MILLIONS/DURING THE NAZI ERA FROM 1933 TO 1945./THE POSTS SUPPORTING THE GATES LOOK BLOWN BY THE WIND. THEY/EVOKE MEMORIES OF THE FLAMES OR CHIMNEYS OF THE CREMATORIA. TO SOME, THEY WILL RESEMBLE THE HEBREW LETTER [ ] (vov), WHICH/REPRESENTS THE NUMBERS SIX, FOR THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION, OR THE/SIX MILLION JEWISH VICTIMS. THE GATES THEMSELVES MAY SYMBOLIZE/THE BARS OF A PRISON OR THE ENTRANCES TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS,/OR, ARE THEY THE GATES OF HEAVEN OR HELL/ DO THEY LEAD TO/FREEDOM OR BONDAGE?/THE FIVE PLAQUES ON THE GATES DEPICT THESE IMAGES: (HEBREW LETTERS)/MEANING 'REMEMBER' TORN FABRIC BEARING A PRISONER'S NUMBER;/BARBED WIRE REPRESENTING CONCENTRATION CAMPS; THE BIBLE IN FLAMES COMMEMERATES (sic) KRISTALLNACHT WHEN THE HOLOCAUST BEGAN,/AND THE BROKEN TABLETS OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS./AS WE STAND BEFORE THESE GATES, WE ARE CALLED UPON TO/REMEMBER WHAT WE MUST NEVER FORGET.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1993.

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

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382

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