Lot Essay
cf. D. R. Howlett, The Sculpture of Donald De Lue, Boston, 1990, p. 58.
Donald De Lue was a prolific American sculptor who specialized in figural works. Rooted in the stylized Classicism of the 1930s, De Lue's powerful representations of the human form won him acclaim and awards throughout his lifetime. His best known works are the Rocket Thrower executed for the New York World's Fair in 1964, the Spirit of American Youth for the Omaha Beach Memorial and numerous other war memorials. This design, first sculpted in plasticine, was executed in wood due to wartime shortages of metal. Two of this design were made, for chapels at West Point and Arlington, Virginia. The other example is now in the private collection of Mitchell Wolfson, Jr.
Donald De Lue was a prolific American sculptor who specialized in figural works. Rooted in the stylized Classicism of the 1930s, De Lue's powerful representations of the human form won him acclaim and awards throughout his lifetime. His best known works are the Rocket Thrower executed for the New York World's Fair in 1964, the Spirit of American Youth for the Omaha Beach Memorial and numerous other war memorials. This design, first sculpted in plasticine, was executed in wood due to wartime shortages of metal. Two of this design were made, for chapels at West Point and Arlington, Virginia. The other example is now in the private collection of Mitchell Wolfson, Jr.