: The nation's capital has been consumed recently with the run up
to and the dedication of the much-anticipated National World War
II Memorial. Opened to mixed reviews after years of controversy,
the sprawling granite and bronze complex, sited on 7.4 acres of
the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln
Memorial, is undeniably awesome by day or night. It cost $175
million in private funds.
While there has been a good deal of critical comment about the
design of Providence, R.I.-based architect Freiderich St Florian
and to a lesser extent about the numerous sculptural objects
created by Virginia-based Raymond Kaksey, there is general
agreement that the massive project is long overdue and represents
a good faith effort to honor the enormous commitment of Americans
that led to victory in World War II. It specifically seeks to
salute the 16 million soldiers who served in the US armed forces
during the war, the more than 400,000 who died and the millions
who actively supported the war effort at home.
Around Washington, various museums and organizations have mounted
exhibitions to pay homage to "the greatest generation" that won
the war. The most important cultural complement is at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, not far from the new memorial, in the
form of "Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms: Paintings That Inspired
a Nation," on view through September 6.
Co-organized by the Corcoran Gallery, led by Sarah Cash, curator
of American art, and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge,
Mass., the exhibition features the four iconic paintings Rockwell
(1894-1978) created to immortalize the four freedoms - ideals
that unite Americans and that we wish for the rest of the world.
