Iwo Jima Marine Corps War Memorial Exhibit

Iwo Jima Marine Corps War Memorial Exhibit - The original smaller statue of the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima in 1945 is on display before auction at Bonhams New York later this month dedicated to World War II artifacts. Most Americans are familiar with the 32-foot-tall Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va. Less well-known is the 12 1/2-foot-tall statue created in just 3 months after the event.

The cast stone monument was erected in Washington, D.C., in front of what is now the Federal Reserve Building on Constitution Avenue. It remained there until it was removed in 1947. The 12 1/2-foot version was returned to de Weldon, who covered it with a tarp behind his studio. It remained there for more than four decades.

Iwo Jima Marine Corps War Memorial Exhibit by DOCTOR FELIX W. de WELDON, USMC: Felix de Weldon was born 12 April 1907, in Vienna, Austria, where he obtained his A.B. degree at Marchetti College in 1925. He received his M.A. and M.S. degrees at the University of Vienna’s Academy of Creative Arts and School of Architecture in 1927, and was awarded his Ph.D. there in 1929. Further studies in art and architecture took him to Paris, Rome, Florence and Oxford.

The artist first achieved fame as a sculptor at the age of 17, with his statue of Professor Ludo Hartman, eminent Austrian educator and diplomat. Since then he has designed more than 70 full-length statues and nearly 800 smaller sculptures, in addition to a large number of portraits, murals and other paintings. Among his works, which have been shown from Egypt to Japan, are busts of such notables as England’s Kings George V, Edward VIII and George VI; World War I British Prime Minister David Lloyd George; former Queen Alexandria of Yugoslavia; Prime Minister Mackenzie King of Canada; President Harry Truman; General A.A. Vandegrift, USMC; and Admirals Chester Nimitz, William Leahy and Louis Denfeld.

Dr. de Weldon came to the United States in 1937 and was naturalized in 1945. He passed away 2 June 2003 in Woodstock, Virginia, from congestive heart failure at the age of 96. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

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•  Homepage for the Official United States Marine Corps History Division
• Original Iwo Jima monument could fetch up to $1.8M at NYC auction