Adrift - Manchester, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 28.675 W 002° 14.716
30U E 550089 N 5925701
This bronze sculpture shows a family group clinging to a raft in a stormy sea.
Waymark Code: WMNMDM
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/03/2015
Views: 5
It was sculpted by John Cassidy in 1907 and was purchased by James Gresham, a wealthy local engineer who collected many works by living artists.
A plaque on the plinth of the status has the following information.
Adrift
1907
John Cassidy 1860 - 1939
John Cassidy was born in Ireland but settled in Manchester
He wrote that his sculpture represents:
Humanity adrift on the sea of life, depicting sorrows and dangers, hopes and fears
and embodying the dependence of human beings upon one and another, the response of human
symapthy to human needs and the inevitable dependence on Divine Aid
Presented to Manchester Art Gallery in 1908 by James Gresham C.E. J.P.
The bronze sculpture is in the form of a family clinging to a raft in a stormy sea. The central figure is a half-naked man, holding a sheet aloft in his raised right hand, calling for help. Arranged around him are the figures of his wife and three children. His wife is shown leaning over and kissing their infant son. To the left, is the daughter, her raised arm held in her father's left hand. At the rear is the prone figure of a youth, the elder son, holding his breast. Parts of the raft are visible in the waves which make up the base.
The sculpture was placed in its current location outside Manchester Library in St. Peter's Square in November 2014. It was placed here after the library underwent a major refurbishment.
The title of the sculpture is doubly appropriate because ever since it was first installed in Piccadilly Gardens the statue has been moved on numerous occasions. This website tells the statue's story and the various locations its been moved to.
link