Seen/Unseen

A few weeks ago, I happened upon a (admittedly rather poorly made) documentary about Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.  There is nothing particularly new or special about this: Richmond loves its history and, in particular, its Civil War history.  What struck me as interesting was the bit of "filler" regarding sculptor Edward Valentine.

Valentine was most famous for his work memorializing popular Confederate figures (the Robert E. Lee Memorial at Washington and Lee University, J.E.B. Stuart, etc.), as well as busts of Edwin Booth and Beethoven.

I found it incredibly interesting that Valentine was, as the second son, encouraged to pursue his art in Europe.  He returned to Richmond after the death of his father and set up a shop on E. Leigh Street.  His studio became a major destination for artists and politicians (Woodrow Wilson and Oscar Wilde to name a few).

Even more interesting is the fact that Valentine created stunning grave monuments like "Grief" (seen here:)

And yet his own burial marker is a simple inset stone with just his name and his birth and death dates.  There is something incredibly compelling about someone who creates the kind of beauty that Valentine created, but who chose not to mark his final resting place.

Valentine elected to leave his work as his monument--placing less emphasis on his final (physical) resting place. We are left with the reminders of his creative life rather than his physical one.