Hulyo 22, 2026

Today's news in under-loved statues.

1. The Guardian has this article about a statue no one seems to love:

2. And here's a gift link to a NYT article about a statue that Trump haters cannot allow themselves to love:

We're told the Jefferson statue was made by the same sculptor who "has also sculpted Mr. Trump, with one hand holding a MAGA hat and the other raised in a fist, a reference to his gesture after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa."

The Charlie Kirk statue was made by a sculptor who doesn't even like Kirk! He's quoted saying "Well, this guy must be out of his mind." The Guardian doesn't like Kirk either. Its article ends with the statement that the sculptor "is left with a 6ft 4in statue of a renowned racist, which he has spent $100,000 making, and which no one wants to buy."

60 komento:

Temujin ayon kay ...

The Kirk statue is creepy. The Jefferson statue is fine and anyone appalled by it needs to check their TDS.

ForestwithouttreeS ayon kay ...

The Jefferson article says nothing about who loves or hates the sculpture. Did you just make that up?

tim maguire ayon kay ...

The Kirk statue looks like a really well done paper mache one might see in a school art class. Who did he think would pay millions for it? (I'm reminded of a story I saw many years ago about a guy who found a really long french fry in his McDonald's bag. He declared it the world's longest french fry and tried to sell it for a million dollars. Nobody bought that either.)

Dave Begley ayon kay ...

Note well that President Trump honored the very first Democrat President.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

I like the jefferson statue. Not thrilled with the Kirk one. It looks more like a mannequin that a statue.

Having him hold a microphone isn't a good idea either. Not sure who he thought would buy it. Kirk didn't hold office, he wasn't a popular TV or radio host , he was just a guy who went to college campuses and pushed Turning point conservatism.

Enigma ayon kay ...

It's creepy but still 100x better than the high-school art-class Michelle Obama portrait in the Smithsonian. See the recent Smithsonian story for as to why...

https://npg.si.edu/learn/classroom-resource/michelle-obama

FunkyPhD ayon kay ...

"Renowned racist." Provide proof of Kirk's racism, or stfu.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Had Kirk been a liberal/leftists assassinated by rightwinger, there probably been a statue put up by Democrat run Big city somewhere.

RideSpaceMountain ayon kay ...

Well it's not a good sculpture. Then again most sculptures aren't good in a world where Michaelangelo existed.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Provide proof. Its an insult and an attack. By assuming its made in good faith you're playing into their hands. But most non-leftists just like arguing. Only the Left is interested in propaganda.

Humperdink ayon kay ...

Renowned racist? The Guardian went from zero credibility to negative credibility. Challenging mind-numbed students on college campus’s is racist? Give me a break.

My dearly departed mother labeled Rush Limbaugh a racist. When I asked if she ever heard him speak, she meekly responded no. Same response would be received from the Guardian. BTW, guardian of what?

n.n ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
n.n ayon kay ...

Diversitism (e.g. racism) is a critical Choice. #HateLovesAbortion

n.n ayon kay ...

Isnt it ironic that The Guardian is a first-order forcing of catastrophic anthropogenic climate change.

Spiros ayon kay ...

Charlie Kirk is a racist because he was against affirmative action? I guess it's virtuous and good and righteous that elite law schools are 35% Black and Jewish when, without affirmative action, they would end up about 5% Jewish and 1 or 2% Black.

Jaq ayon kay ...

It’s funny that Kirk was questioning the Gaza genocide two weeks before he was assassinated, but the guy who took his place is all in on it. I don’t think Kirk was a racist, but like “antisemite,” it’s an easy smear to use when you don’t have any real arguments that you want to make publicly.

Howard ayon kay ...

Charlie was an odd looking guy and the statue captures that quite well. The key to good portraiture is making the subject look better than in real life.

n.n ayon kay ...

The sculpture does have a dark face. A Diversitist hue, perhaps.

Breezy ayon kay ...

Kirk often spoke about the rising prosperity and stability of the Black community before Congress stepped in with laws regarding expanding welfare. These laws fostered dependency that undercut the family structure, he argued. He genuinely lamented the box that minority communities were put in. He was not objectively racist in any sense, just recognizing unexpected results from our welfare state laws.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Obviously, Trump haters will resist loving the Jefferson statue, but if you want something printing showing the obvious, I recommend the WaPo article, "Trump continues overhaul of White House grounds with new Rose Garden statues":

"“All told, the statues dating to his second term are of negligible artistic value,” Maxwell Anderson, the former president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, wrote in an email. Anderson also drew comparisons between Trump’s preferences and what he said were similar practices by dictators who led North Korea and the Soviet Union.

Lazarus ayon kay ...

'We're told the Jefferson statue was made by the same sculptor who "has also sculpted Mr. Trump, with one hand holding a MAGA hat and the other raised in a fist, a reference to his gesture after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa."'"

That sounds too much like the Lenin statues with the cap on his head and one arm raised in defiance, or indicating the way to the radiant future. There was an anecdote about a sculptor who made a Lenin statue with one cap in his hand and another on his head.

I don't much care for either statue. We know that ancient Greek statues were originally painted in gaudy colors, but they became an inspiration for Western culture after those colors had been worn away.

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

Why would the people who wanted him dead - and celebrated his murder - want that?

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

The left demand statues of Mao, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot and The Billionaire Castro Family.

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

Jaq - you are such a liar. Go hang with Blue Sky.

Ralph L ayon kay ...

Kirk was a tall man, 6'4"ish, sez grok, yet the statue has a very short torso. He also had a head shape from South Park.

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

The Bullets that were etched with "Hey Fascist, catch" - by 2 trannie lovers - nothing to do with the Mossad - Tuqr Jaq.

Ann Althouse ayon kay ...

Let's remember that New York City Hall removed its statue of Jefferson that had stood for nearly 200 years: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/23/thomas-jefferson-statuue-new-york-city-hall

ThatsGoingToLeaveA ayon kay ...

"of a renowned racist" baselessly claimed The Guardian.

hanuman_prodigious_leaper ayon kay ...

I don't see any ink with Jefferson Statue -- has well already run dry?

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

"renowned racist"
Fuck You Guardian. All leftists are frauds and liars.

Aggie ayon kay ...

"....All told, the statues dating to his second term are of negligible artistic value,” Maxwell Anderson, the former president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, wrote in an email....'

What are the odds this was accompanied by a disdainful sniff?

Commie Videos and You a Law Professor ayon kay ...

Perhaps the sculptor was mentored by the "Lucille Ball" artist.

jim ayon kay ...

2 cheesy statues. This is news?

s'opihjerdt ayon kay ...

For a moment, I found the polychromatic nature of the statues unorthodox and off-putting. Then I remembered reading that ancient Greek marble is much more durable than the ancient Greek paint the ancient statues were once covered with.

n.n ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
n.n ayon kay ...

The statues will disappear in some urbane back... black hole... whore h/t NAACP at the intersection of racism and sexism under an umbrella incorporation in a RAAT city.

jim ayon kay ...

When, exactly, did sculpture become a branch of cartooning?

William ayon kay ...

By the way decent people keep such metrics, Kirk was a decent person. I don't know if he's a world historical figure, but if he deserves a statue at all, he deserves a better statue....On the plus side, it's better than that statue of Lucy.

Jupiter ayon kay ...

Ray-Ciss, Ray-Ciss! Ray-Ciss, Ray-Ciss!
Keep chokin' that chicken.

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

For leftists, the only way they might consider a Statue of their sworn enemy- Free Speech Charlie Kirk - would be if they could place it, desecrate and vandalize it - and then tear it down.

Mirroring what they all want to do to this nation.

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

Charlie Kirk deserves to be alive with his wife and children.

He was taken by the corrupt evil LEFT. The liars who kill - and then scapegoat with more lies.

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

People create things everyday that nobody wants to pay for. In fact, that's the norm.

Mr. T. ayon kay ...

The Guardian is still mad that the Aberdeen girls just didn't let themselves get groomed.

john mosby ayon kay ...

The Kirk z''l statue reminds me of the Renaldo and Lucille Ball statues.

Including the microphone is a good touch, though. Lots of elegies for him mentioned that his mike was his only weapon, that he freely offered the mike to opponents and listened respectfully, etc. Could have inclined the mike outward to show that. But even that would not have overcome the weird Howdy Doody chin. CC, JSM

Josephbleau ayon kay ...

And Hamilton was a known capitalist man!

I suspect that the $100,000 is in labor and not materials. I suspect if the piece added a neck wound Mandami would but it for Central Park.

Hassayamper ayon kay ...

The Jefferson statue is decent but not spectacular, and certainly of a higher standard than the vast majority of the worthless Turd-In-The-Yard "art" that gets installed in public spaces nowadays by the leftist enemies of all that is uplifting and good.

The Kirk statue is poorly executed and not a good likeness. If the artist had done as well as the Jefferson sculptor, there probably would have been a buyer.

Josephbleau ayon kay ...

So making a statue on speculation rather than having a commission is not good business huh?

mikee ayon kay ...

Jefferson is blocking the space next to him with that hand on the bench. Let's analyze how many ways the Left will be triggered over that. Or not, sometimes statues just need a stabilizing structure to avoid falling over.

Two-eyed Jack ayon kay ...

Anyone else creeped out by Horatio Greenough's statue of Washington in a toga? The Jefferson statue is better, the Kirk statue worse. Maybe the sculptor could have done Charlie Kirk in a toga.

John henry ayon kay ...

The kirk statue reminds me of the Lucy statue. Both horrible, both look like they were made by people mad at the subject.

John Henry

John henry ayon kay ...

And now, reading the other comments, I see I was not the first with the Lucy comparison.

GMTA

John Henry

Peachy+2 ayon kay ...

When leftists use slander to identify who they hate - they paint a target for death on that person.

Not enough Fuck yous for The Guardian.

boatbuilder ayon kay ...

"All told, the statues dating to his second term are of negligible artistic value,” Maxwell Anderson, the former president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, wrote in an email."

They couldn't get a quote from the current president of The Association of Art Museum Directors?

Big Mike ayon kay ...

“The Charlie Kirk statue was made by a sculptor who doesn't even like Kirk!”

Well that explains a few things, doesn’t it?

As to the other statue, I am old enough to remember when Democrats celebrated Jefferson-Jackson Day. Times do change it seems. Still, we already have a huge (19’ tall) statue of Jefferson inside the Jefferson Memorial on the edge of the Tidal Basin, so do we need another statue of him?

Jim at ayon kay ...

*It’s funny that Kirk was questioning the Gaza genocide two weeks before he was assassinated...*

Yeah. It's just hilarious.

You're fucked in the head.

Hassayamper ayon kay ...

"....All told, the statues dating to his second term are of negligible artistic value,” Maxwell Anderson, the former president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, wrote in an email...."

I bet old Max here thinks the rotten banana duct-taped to the wall that sold for six million dollars a few years ago is high art indeed.

mccullough ayon kay ...

The Dwayne Wade statute is still the worst.

gadfly ayon kay ...

mccullough said...
The Dwayne Wade statute is still the worst.

That's because he never could stand still on the basketball court.

JIM ayon kay ...

Charlie Kirk was not a racist. Obama was a racist. Trump is not a racist. Jasmine Crockett is a racist.

Tina Trent ayon kay ...

Well, at least it'snot super-creepy Dwane Hanson. Small comfort.

Mag-post ng isang Komento

Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith. Also: No italics, even briefly. Use asterisks for emphasis. And don't play with the format by changing fonts or using boldface or all caps. Never include more than one extra line break between paragraphs.