Jose Marti
Bronze
Ltd. Ed. 9
Size 16” H approx (featured on a black marble base)
Patina: collectors choice
Also offered in plaster-like casting (Hydrocal) at a lower price point. Without a marble base.
Photo of the original clay sculpture which is in the process of being cast in bronze
It’s my pleasure to share my latest work, especially with my Cuban community!
JOSE MARTÍ
(1853-1895)
Bronze, Limited edition of only 9
Size: 16” H approx. (featured on a black marble base)
Artist: Marilyn Ines Rodriguez/Master sculptor
www.marilynrodriguez.com
While sculpting this bust, I was listening to Jose Marti’s biography and poems, letting his words guide my hands. Seeking to portrait him beyond his physical likeness, that’s too superficial, but a deeper depiction of this brilliant, sensitive soul & character. In his writing, I searched for symbols & metaphors that I may incorporate in his bust, as well as capturing his “dreamers gaze”, the soft look in his eyes, “su mirada sonadora”.
Martí was not a soldier. He was a dreamer, a poet, a journalist, an intellectual, an idealist, a revolutionary who devoted his life to the pursuit of equality and unity without borders. He believed that great nations are forged not through force or domination, but through justice, moral clarity, & the dignity of their people. His greatest love was Cuba, his beloved homeland for which he gave his life, at the age of 42, in one of his first military engagements in the final independence war from Spain in 1895.
In “Versos sencillos”, one of his most well known poems, he speaks of a white rose:
“Cultivo una rosa blanca
en julio como en enero,
para el amigo sincero
que me da su mano franca.
Y para el cruel que me arranca
el corazón con que vivo,
cardo ni ortiga cultivo;
cultivo la rosa blanca”.
Another well known passage:
“Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma”
Martí also wrote that when death called him, he wanted to be holding a Cuban flag in one hand, & a white rose in his other. Guided by his words, I have chosen to place a rose, a Cuban flag pin on his lapel, & to leave the base of his torso unfinished as a metaphor of a life taken too soon. The unfinished texture of his torso, which continues descending down the base, symbolizes the blood he shed in the battle for the independence of his beloved country.
Ltd. Ed. 9
Size 16” H approx (featured on a black marble base)
Patina: collectors choice
Also offered in plaster-like casting (Hydrocal) at a lower price point. Without a marble base.
Photo of the original clay sculpture which is in the process of being cast in bronze
It’s my pleasure to share my latest work, especially with my Cuban community!
JOSE MARTÍ
(1853-1895)
Bronze, Limited edition of only 9
Size: 16” H approx. (featured on a black marble base)
Artist: Marilyn Ines Rodriguez/Master sculptor
www.marilynrodriguez.com
While sculpting this bust, I was listening to Jose Marti’s biography and poems, letting his words guide my hands. Seeking to portrait him beyond his physical likeness, that’s too superficial, but a deeper depiction of this brilliant, sensitive soul & character. In his writing, I searched for symbols & metaphors that I may incorporate in his bust, as well as capturing his “dreamers gaze”, the soft look in his eyes, “su mirada sonadora”.
Martí was not a soldier. He was a dreamer, a poet, a journalist, an intellectual, an idealist, a revolutionary who devoted his life to the pursuit of equality and unity without borders. He believed that great nations are forged not through force or domination, but through justice, moral clarity, & the dignity of their people. His greatest love was Cuba, his beloved homeland for which he gave his life, at the age of 42, in one of his first military engagements in the final independence war from Spain in 1895.
In “Versos sencillos”, one of his most well known poems, he speaks of a white rose:
“Cultivo una rosa blanca
en julio como en enero,
para el amigo sincero
que me da su mano franca.
Y para el cruel que me arranca
el corazón con que vivo,
cardo ni ortiga cultivo;
cultivo la rosa blanca”.
Another well known passage:
“Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma”
Martí also wrote that when death called him, he wanted to be holding a Cuban flag in one hand, & a white rose in his other. Guided by his words, I have chosen to place a rose, a Cuban flag pin on his lapel, & to leave the base of his torso unfinished as a metaphor of a life taken too soon. The unfinished texture of his torso, which continues descending down the base, symbolizes the blood he shed in the battle for the independence of his beloved country.