Dimitri Hadzi

{{short description|American sculptor}}

{{distinguish|Dimitrios Hatzis}}

{{Infobox artist

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Dimitri Hadzi

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Dimitri Hadzi.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Dimitri Hadzi at work in his studio in Cambridge

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|03|21}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|4|16|1921|3|21}}

| death_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| education =

| alma_mater = Cooper Union

| known_for = Abstract monumental sculpture

| notable_works = Elmo
Centaur
Twin Gates
Propylaea
River Legend

| style = Abstract modernist

| movement =

| spouse = Martha Leeb (divorced)
Cynthia Hoyle von Thüna (1985)

| awards = 1957 Guggenheim Fellow
1962 Venice Biennale
1974 Rome Prize

| elected = 1983 American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1990 National Academy of Design, Associate member
1994 National Academy of Design, full Academician

| patrons =

| memorials =

| website = {{URL|dimitrihadzi.com}}

| module =

}}

Dimitri Hadzi (March 21, 1921 – April 16, 2006)[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/arts/design/01hadzi.html Dimitri Hadzi, 85, Sculptor and Art Professor, Is Dead] was an American abstract sculptor who lived and worked in Rome, Italy for 25 years and later resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he also taught at Harvard University for over a decade.

Life

Hadzi was born to Greek-American immigrant parents in Greenwich Village, New York City on March 21, 1921.{{cite news|last1=Fox|first1=Margalit|title=Dimitri Hadzi, 85, Sculptor and Art Professor, Is Dead|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/arts/design/01hadzi.html|access-date=2017-07-21|work=The New York Times|date=1 May 2006}} As a child, he attended a Greek after-school program, where he learned language, mythology, history, and theater. He also won a prize for drawing. After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, he worked as a chemist, while continuing his studies in chemistry by night.

In 1942, he signed up for the Army Air Force, serving in the South Pacific region while continuing to draw in his spare time.{{cite web|url=http://www.rogallery.com/Hadzi_Dimitri/hadzi-biography.html |title=Dimitri Hadzi - Biography |publisher=Rogallery.com |date= |access-date=2013-11-07}} After his service, he returned to New York to study painting and sculpture at Cooper Union.

Hadzi taught studio arts at Harvard University, from 1975 to 1989.{{cite news|title=Dimitri Hadzi|url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/06/dimitri-hadzi/|access-date=2017-07-21|work=Harvard Gazette|publisher=Harvard University|date=11 June 2009}}

Personal life

Hadzi married Martha Leeb, but later divorced.{{when|date=February 2022}} In June 1985, he married Cynthia von Thuna.{{cite news|last1=Gewertz|first1=Ken|title=Renowned sculptor Dimitri Hadzi of VES dies at 85|url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2006/05/renowned-sculptor-dimitri-hadzi-of-ves-dies-at-85/|access-date=2017-07-21|work=Harvard Gazette|publisher=Harvard University|date=4 May 2006}} He died in 2006.

Works

  • Centaur (1954), in the garden of Prospect House in Princeton, New Jersey
  • Elmo-MIT, 1960s
  • Onfalo III (1962), 1300 E Lafayette, Detroit, MI
  • K. 458 The Hunt (1966), Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, refers to Mozart's String Quartet in B flat, K. 458
  • River Legend (1976), Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, Portland, Oregon
  • Thermopylae (1960s), John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Boston
  • Propylaea (1982), a sculptural fountain in Toledo, Ohio
  • Omphalos (1985), formerly at Harvard Square MBTA station through the Arts on the Line program, but was to be repaired and relocated to Rockport, Massachusetts{{cite news|last=Edgers|first=Geoff|title=Hadzi sculpture in Harvard Square to get fixed, then moved|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/11/harvard-square-sculpture-dimitri-hadzi-moved-rockport/wR0jQoHI4W7H8gYcNnrA1L/story.html|access-date=28 December 2013|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=November 11, 2013}}{{update inline|date=July 2017}}
  • Helmet V, (1959-1961) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/search-results/?edan_search_value=DimitriHadzi#detail=http%3A//www.hirshhorn.si.edu/search-results/search-result-details/%3Fedan_search_value%3Dhmsg_66.2306 |title=Collection Search - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden | Smithsonian |newspaper=Hirshhorn.si.edu |date=2010-12-07 |access-date=2013-11-07}}
  • Red Mountains (1991), Hugo L. Black United States Courthouse, Birmingham, Alabama. The sculpture, installed in 1991, was removed in 2012 for renovations to the building. A provision of the 2014 Financial Appropriations Act barred the General Services Administration from replacing it for fear that it could be used to shield an attacker.{{Cite news | last=Faulk | first=Kent | date=July 17, 2014 | title=Art or security threat? U.S. House of Representatives votes against re-installing Birmingham federal courthouse sculpture | newspaper=The Birmingham News | url=http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/07/art_or_security_threat_us_hous.html | access-date=July 18, 2014 }}{{update inline|date=July 2017}}
  • Elmo V (1961), The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection, Albany, NY{{cite web |title=Empire State Plaza Art Collection |url=https://empirestateplaza.ny.gov/art/explore-art-collection}}

Awards

  • 1957 Guggenheim Fellow{{cite web|url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/6018-dimitri-hadzi |title=Dimitri Hadzi - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |publisher=Gf.org |access-date=2013-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003015849/http://www.gf.org/fellows/6018-dimitri-hadzi |archive-date=2013-10-03 }}
  • 1962 Venice Biennale
  • 1974 Rome Prize
  • 1990 National Academy of Design, Associate member
  • 1994 National Academy of Design, full Academician

Removal of artworks

File:BostonMA CopleyPlaceWaterfall.jpg

Some of Hadzi's public artworks have been removed since his death, as noted above. In addition to the named works, a {{convert|60|ft|adj=on}} high sculptural fountain designed by him was completely demolished and removed circa 2014, despite protests by his widow and other commentators.{{cite web|last1=Weigel|first1=Margaret|title=Fuse Commentary: To Stay or Not to Stay? Copley Place's fountain faces an uphill battle|url=http://artsfuse.org/92825/fuse-commentary-to-stay-or-not-to-stay-copley-places-fountain-faces-an-uphill-battle/|website=The Arts Fuse|date=26 September 2013|publisher=artsfuse.org|access-date=2017-07-20}} The artwork was the centerpiece of Boston's Copley Place indoor shopping mall, and was composed of multiple abstract granite and travertine marble shapes, with a waterfall cascading down it into a shallow pool at the bottom, surrounded by marble benches. {{As of|2022}}, there was scant remaining evidence the fountain had ever existed, and the ownership, location, and status of its components were unknown to the general public.{{update inline|date=February 2022}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}