This statue of Andrade e Silva, Brazil's preemminent Revolutionary, was gift from the Country of Brazil during the period in 1955 when 6th Avenue became the Avenue of the Americas.
Wikipedia (
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"José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (June 13, 1763 – April 6, 1838), was a Brazilian statesman, naturalist, professor and poet, born in Santos, São Paulo, then part of the Portuguese Empire. He was one of the most important mentors of Brazilian independence, and his actions were decisive for the success of Emperor Pedro I. He supported public education, was an abolitionist and suggested that a new national capital be created in Brazil's underdeveloped interior (effected over a century later as Brasília). His career as naturalist was marked by the discovery of four new minerals."
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" His work Poesias Avulsas that come out in Bordeaux were republished in Brazil, in 1861, by the publisher Laemmert. In Brazil it received the title "Poesias" (Poetries) and the publication had the coordination of Joaquim Norberto de Sousa. In 1942 Afrânio Peixoto prepared another issue through the Brazilian Academy of Letters. This work, prefaced with a text by Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, was also published in a collection, as Volume I, idealized by the "Instituto Nacional do Livro" (The National Book Institute), appearing in 1946 with the title Poesias de Américo Elísio [Américo Elísio's Poetry]. His poetry shows a naturalistic pantheism that expresses his intellectual character and scientific curiosity.
His Scientific, Political and Social works are published in Volume III, compiled and reproduced by Edgar Cerqueira Falcão with the title Obras científicas, politicas e sociais de José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. Its third edition came out in 1963 to celebrate the bicentennial of the Patriarch of the Independence.
In 1797, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences."
An internet search didn't reveal any information about the artist by Jose Otavia Correia Lima other than this brief paragraph:
"Jose Lima made the statue of the Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, one of the leaders of Brazilian independence, which stands on the edge of Bryant Park. Lima was a Brazilian sculptor. He was born July 17, 1878, and died on Aug. 26, 1974.
Lima studied in France and Italy, later becoming a professor and director of Brazil's National School of Art." source - (
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