Connecticut Artist Sculpts “Masterpiece” for World War I Memorial in D.C.

Sabin Howard is a renaissance man.  

As an artist, his sculptural work evokes the classics like Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Bernini, the influences — or “guides,” as he describes — of his ethic. His showroom in Kent, Conn., features numerous pieces examining and celebrating the dignity of the human being, seeking to reflect the transcendentals, those being the true, the good and the beautiful.  

While he is a student of tradition, Howard’s art is not an aesthetic imitation. Nor is he merely reflective. He is forward-thinking, aiming to elevate and preserve “sacred values” for future generations, which he argues were lost in the modern art trends of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

“The sense of community has been destroyed and the sense of being part of something larger than yourself,” Howard told Yankee Institute. “My definition of the sacred is you believe in something that is bigger than yourself. That is sacred.” 

Nowhere is Howard’s philosophy and mission more evident than in his latest project A Soldier’s Journey — a nearly 60-foot long, 38-figure massive bronze sculpture depicting an American soldier’s call to duty, from home to the Western Front, during the First World War. The sculpture will become the centerpiece of the National World War I Memorial in Pershing Square Park, Washington, D.C., when it is unveiled Sept. 13.  

The sculpture is already being hailed as a “masterpiece.” Yet, in a time of political polarization and rampant concerns about artificial intelligence in art, Howard aspires for the monument to be an edifying and unifying reminder of Americans’ sacrifices in WWI for visitors to the national memorial.  

“The most important purpose [of the sculpture] is to present our country unified because the soldiers, nurses and children that are on that wall all entered into that war, neither Democrat nor Republican, but as Americans,” Howard said. “Our identity is unified and cohesive under that flag in the sculpture.” 

An Artist’s Journey 

In truth, Howard never intended to be an artist at a young age. Born in the 1960s, he grew up in two worlds, New York City and Torino, Italy, the son of two   PhDs, who reveled in the life of the mind. While overseas, he admired Torino’s classical artwork — but he recalls his grandfather’s war stories that struck him on a “very personal level.” 

“My grandfather — who was Italian — was a POW in Libya, Africa after a giant battle with the Brits,” Howard told Yankee Institute. “And then he escaped, traveled across the Sahara, across the ocean, back to the straits of Messina and then walked, hitchhiked all the way back to northern Italy.” 

Read the entire article on the Yankee Institute website here:

External Web Site Notice: This page contains information directly presented from an external source. The terms and conditions of this page may not be the same as those of this website. Click here to read the full disclaimer notice for external web sites. Thank you.