Victory

Copied William Zorach, Victory, 1944, French marble, 42 3⁄8 x 15 x 12 1⁄8 in. (107.7 x 38.1 x 30.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Susan Morse Hilles, 1971.76

Artwork Details

Title
Victory
Artist
Date
1944
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
42 3⁄8 x 15 x 12 1⁄8 in. (107.7 x 38.1 x 30.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Susan Morse Hilles
Mediums
Mediums Description
French marble
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure female — torso
  • Allegory — other — triumph
  • Figure female — nude
Object Number
1971.76
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1971.76

Artwork Description

William Zorach created Victory to memorialize the 1944 Allied victory over German forces after D day. It was one of the artist's biggest successes, and one enthusiastic critic judged it "one of the finest sculptures ever done in this country" (Lansford, Art Digest, March 15, 1947). To suggest the early tradition of commemorating battles with statues of the goddess Victory, Zorach evoked the "simple pure loveliness" of an ancient Greek statue by making the work as simple as possible, covering the torso in the barest of skirts, and creating a smooth silhouette (Zorach, "General Survey of the Background of Modern Sculpture," Lecture I, presented at Columbia University, Summer 1939, Zorach Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution).