Boston: Quest Eternal
The sky was pearl blue with white marble swirls. It was sunny in Boston with a hint of an early spring if not for the slicing, icy winds. It was February, 2007. I was walking through Back Bay, down Princeton St. I had been shooting pictures that day throughout photo-friendly Boston with my 35mm SLR.
At the base of the Prudential Building I discovered a bronze nude, about 10 to 12 feet high, in classical form. It weighs over 5 tons.
The figure appears to be in flight, its left hand outstretched toward the heavens and the angled head trailing it with a fixed gaze, directing every movement, guiding every thought of its own self-expression.
Its title is "Quest Eternal" by sculptor Donald De Lue who, over the course of his notable career, received numerous commisions and awards.
"Quest Eternal" depicts the inner drive of Humans to transcend their limitations, elevate their vision, and manifest their grand potential. In "Quest Eternal", subtlety of expression merges with great theatre where meaning is implied if only to keep the observer fully engaged. But you are drawn into Donald De Lue's vision as much by its intrinsic clarity as by your own interpretation which it welcomes. De Lue's depiction of desire propelling itself toward expression resonates deeply within us all.
Donald De Lue, the great sculptor who lived from 1897 to 1988, was a native son of Boston. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and later in Paris and taught in NYC in the early 1940's. His works are on display in museums throughout the U.S., and he was one of 2 collaborators on the Omaha Beach Memorial in Normandy, France.
Boston, like so many other cities around the globe, is richly adorned with the dreams of muses whose gift to us all, inspiration, still churns within the secret chambers of imagination.
