A seldom-seen memorial sculpture on a seldom-traveled street adjacent to the Texas State Capitol is worth a second look. It's a lovely bronze relief vision of the frontier, and the roster of names included on the other side of the memorial reads like a who's who is 19th century Texas.
From the Smithsonian Art Inventory database: (
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Memorial to the Builders of the Great State of Texas, (sculpture)
Artist:
Villa, Hugo, 1883-1948, sculptor.
Southwell Art Bronze Company, founder.
E. Gargani & Sons, founder.
Title:
Memorial to the Builders of the Great State of Texas, (sculpture).
Dates:
1938.
Medium:
Relief plaque: bronze; Stele: granite; Base: concrete.
Dimensions:
Sculpture: approx. 11 ft. 3 in. x 4 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. 1 in.; Base: approx. 2 ft. 2 in. x 13 ft. 3 in. x 16 ft.
Inscription:
(Lower right corner of relief:) Hugo Villa 1938 (Upper part of relief:) E. Gargani F.Dry. N.Y.. (On lower part of dedication plaque:) Southwell Art Bronze Co. S.A. Tex. (Dedication plaque:) "THE EVOLUTION OF A GREAT STATE"/TO OUR FOREFATHERS, THOSE STALWART PIONEERS WHO/BLAZED A TRAIL THROUGH A WILDERNESS IN OX CARTS/AND COVERED WAGONS, TO TILL THE SOIL, DEVELOP OUR/GREAT CATTLE INDUSTRY AND OUR OIL AND MINERAL/RESOURCES; TO THE BUILDERS OF OUR GREAT CITIES, AND/TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT/OF THE ARTS, SCIENCES AND CULTURE OF TEXAS/THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED. (Plaque on the rear:) THIS MEMORIAL TO THE BUILDERS OF/THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS/ERECTED A.D. 1938 BY/THE TEXAS HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD/AMONG THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEXAS/AND WITH GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS/THE FOLLOWING NAMES ARE HEREON INSCRIBED/(four columns of names) signed Founder's mark appears.
Description:
Granite stele with bronze relief plaque depicting scenes from the history of Texas, and below that an inscription plaque. Included in the relief are four oil wells, an airplane, the Texas state capitol building, and a cowboy lassoing a steer. Also shown is a frontier couple with ox-driven plow, and a pioneer man standing with rifle behind his seated wife nursing a baby, and a covered wagon. The relief's decorative border includes panels depicting in the upper left corner, a sailing ship; in the upper right corner, medical symbols; in the lower right corner a book; and in the lower left corner a wheel with wings. Also seen in the decorative border is a woman sowing seeds and a blacksmith, fruits, vegetables, nuts and plants. The stele is mounted on a concrete base, with five steps.
Owner:
Administered by City of Austin, Parks & Recreation Department, 200 South Lamar Boulevard, P. O. Box 1088, Austin, Texas 78767
Located West of Texas State Capitol grounds, on West 11th Street, between Lavaca & Colorado Streets, Austin, Texas
Control Number: IAS TX000633