OTHER VIQUESNEY-INSPIRED LOOK-ALIKE
DOUGHBOY STATUES
Although many Doughboy statues by sculptor John Paulding are confused with E. M. Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy", they were not meant to be copies or derivatives of it (if anything, it was the other way around; Paulding beat Viquesney to the copyright office by at least six months). But some sculptors did use Viquesney's designs as inspirations for their own work. Among them were Joseph Nicolosi and Eric Oberg. Interestingly, Oberg based his work on an alternate Viquesney miniature design, shown below, left. Oberg statues based on this design can be found at Marshalltown, Iowa (below, right), Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania and King, Wisconsin the last two both misidentified as Viquesney Doughboys).
As the rifle is positioned differently, and the full-size monuments were created by a different sculptor, statues of this design, although obviously inspired by Viquesney's work, are not included as valid locations on this website.
As the rifle is positioned differently, and the full-size monuments were created by a different sculptor, statues of this design, although obviously inspired by Viquesney's work, are not included as valid locations on this website.
Above, the plaster version of Viquesney's 12-inch miniature Doughboy statuette, which was made with a rifle position different from the metal ones. Some sculptors used this version as the basis for their own work. But Viquesney himself never used this design as a full-scale monument.
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Sculptor Eric Oberg drew his inspiration from the alternate Viquesney design shown at left. The statue shown above is at the Veterans Home in Marshalltown, Iowa. Others exist at Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania and King, Wisconsin (where both are misidentified as Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy"). All three were produced long after the artist's death.
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A COPY AFTER VIQUESNEY,
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
The statue pictured at left shows a Viquesney-inspired Doughboy located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was formerly in the center of what is locally known as Billy Goat Park (renamed after WWI to Pershing Place), near the intersection of Tulane and South Galvez, but it was moved after a construction project, and as of November 2014, now stands near its original location, but now a part of the new University Medical Center campus.
Note the grenade-throwing arm is bent at a sharper angle and pitched to the back rather than forward, and there is no pair of tree stumps on the base, a Viquesney "hallmark". The statue was dedicated on May 1, 1970, long after Viquesney's death in 1946; the sculptor isn't known. The Smithsonian record is IAS LA000262.
Page 2 of a New Orleans city planning meeting document dated March 13, 2012, describes this monument as appearing to be a replica of Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy", and while there are indeed similarities in its pose, the differences described above (and the dedication date) prove it isn't. It's better described as a copy-after, since it was not made from any original Viquesney mold.
Curiously, in a list of unspecified "memorials" published in 1935, Viquesney did name New Orleans as the location of one of his creations, but it isn't known what it was. Many of the entries on that list are indeed "The Spirit of the American Doughboy", but others have been found to be just plaques or other non-statue monuments, which is probably the case with the entry for New Orleans.
The statue has a Facebook page.
Note the grenade-throwing arm is bent at a sharper angle and pitched to the back rather than forward, and there is no pair of tree stumps on the base, a Viquesney "hallmark". The statue was dedicated on May 1, 1970, long after Viquesney's death in 1946; the sculptor isn't known. The Smithsonian record is IAS LA000262.
Page 2 of a New Orleans city planning meeting document dated March 13, 2012, describes this monument as appearing to be a replica of Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy", and while there are indeed similarities in its pose, the differences described above (and the dedication date) prove it isn't. It's better described as a copy-after, since it was not made from any original Viquesney mold.
Curiously, in a list of unspecified "memorials" published in 1935, Viquesney did name New Orleans as the location of one of his creations, but it isn't known what it was. Many of the entries on that list are indeed "The Spirit of the American Doughboy", but others have been found to be just plaques or other non-statue monuments, which is probably the case with the entry for New Orleans.
The statue has a Facebook page.
NEILLSVILLE, WISCONSIN
A Doughboy derived from Viquesney's design can be seen at Neillsville, Wisconsin's Highground Memorial. Instead of holding a grenade, it has an open right hand, and two tiny tree stumps on the base. Its rifle is also posed vertically, like the Doughboy at King, Wisconsin.
