RJ in Tennessee

Time,
the great destroyer of all delights
(as Sheherazade once put it)
has demolished the shrine on Erie Avenue.
(depicted here in 2008 )


And now,
I have finally gotten up the courage
to visit the scattered fragments
still on display in Johnson City, Tennessee,
before, once again,
they are scattered even further.

(By the middle of August,
everyone in the family there
will have relocated
to either Guam or Houston)

Above is the glorious entrance
to Eric and Sam's condo,
with two pieces from the 1950's,
"Samaritan Woman by the Well"
and "Eve"

The painting is by RJ's friend,
Bill Leonard.









What a statue!

Eric and I
seem to have the same
preference
for these earlier pieces
which are bit more idealistic
than what followed,
and were made while we were children.

I happen to think this "Eve"
is one of the great pieces
of 20th C. figure sculpture.

But I'm also fond of the relief
since we all once used it
to hold hats, canes, and dog leashes.








In the stairwell
there's a wonderful relief
from the 1980's
introducing that theme
of young women and animals
that RJ would pursue
until the day he died.

Beautifully lit,
it's also one my favorite pieces.








Above the front door
is one of RJ's forays
into oil painting
in the manner of Titian.

It's too bad
he never ventured into making mosaics.
(he tried almost everything else)







And just like Eric,
I love the little animal carvings.

(the beautiful young woman in the photograph
is our mother,
the pouting little girl next to her
is Eric's grand daughter, Aleaa)

















Here's a nice display case
with a small version of Roebling
flanked by portraits of Eric's two daughters.










The monumental-sized version of this
has really had a life of its own
as a public monument
despite the fact that RJ was only offered the commission
after the original sculptor had turned it down.





Here's Johanna as a child.







Here's a carving from the 1940's
that used to hang
in the hallway at
our grandparents' home
in Columbus, Ohio.












Here's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
roasting in their fiery furnace.

(I hadn't noticed this before,
but they appear to be a bit older
than the boys who appear in the story)

This piece hung above the
some living room furniture
for at least 40 years.

The bust depicts my brother, Eric.
(for some reason, he has two statues
of himself in his home,
but none of me,
just as I have two statues of myself
but none of him)










Most of the pieces at Ashleigh and Jason's house
had already been packed away into the moving van,
so I didn't get to shoot
their most prized possession
(a large wood relief of a horse
that used to hang above the sofa
in Cincinnati).


Here's one of his carvings of Chinese characters
beneath an engraving of the orgy
associated with worshiping the golden calf.





Over at my Mom's house,
also soon to be vacated,
here's a portrait of her from 1967,
on the bed next to Chao Feiyen
the Pekinese whom I had named
after a character
in my one and only book of Chinese literature.






And, finally
here's the family portrait
from the 1960's
including myself
out on a limb
in the last time
I would ever wear a suit,
all posing in front
of the Ohio River
as it bends around
Eden Park in Cincinnati.

The painting is flanked
by busts
of MJ, my brother and I.
and a small figure of RJ
as done by Tom Tsuchiya