Saint Marie Marguerite d'Youville (1701-1771)
This morning I walked over to D'Youville on Porter Avenue to take a close look at artist David Derner's recently unveiled sculpture of Saint Marie Marguerite d'Youville. I couldn't have picked a better day, because the as the clouds hovered overhead and the raindrops clung to the bronze, two figures miraculously came to life before me. This sculpture, three years in the making, is a real masterpiece in my eyes. There is so much character added to what could have been a soulless attempt to portray the noble and tragic Sister Marguerite D'Youville. I spoke with David about the work just moments ago:
"The little girl looking up to Sister Marguerite is an orphan. In this scene, the girl has just dropped a key in her haste, while a cat (David's cat Rooney) plays with the key underfoot. I worked on the sculpture for three years and documented every single stage with photos and a journal. This was my first commissioned life-size statue. You're always working up to the big one. It's not like an art show... this will be there forever, and even though I'm 53 years old, I feel that I'm just starting my career. I cast the bronze myself with the help of artist Ken Payne - a task that I will most likely never do myself again. If you screw up at any point along the way, the job doesn't get done... The original piece is destroyed when you make the mold, so I only had one shot. It would be hard to say what the most critical juncture was -the ending turned out to be the most fun. The statue was made for the school's centenary, and I was fortunate enough to land the commission."
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PaulBuffalo
Did the artist produce the bronze cast locally?
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Joshua
A great tribute to a great college.
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brousey
looks great david
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Prodigal-Son
PaulBuffalo - he works in the Tri-Main. I believe he did do it all local.
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katiesehr
parts of it were cast in Rhode Island
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