Irene Leache
Artist
Luigi Guglielmi
(Italian, 1834-1907)
CultureItalian
Date1834-1907
MediumMarble
DimensionsOverall: 25 3/4 in. (65.4 cm)
InscribedInscribed on the back of the bust:
P. L. GUGLIELMI
ROMA
Credit LineGift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation
Object number2014.3.13
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a bust portrait of Irene Leache. It is of Parian marble by the sculptor Luigi Guglielmi (also known as P. L. Guglielmi).Label TextLuigi Guglielmi Italian (1834-1907) Irene Leache Marble Gift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation 2014.3.13 The concept of the fine arts as a civic obligation-as a necessary cultural feature of any American city aiming to be "great"-took root in Norfolk in 1871, when two women arrived in the city and established a school for girls. Irene Leache and her student and companion Anna Wood ran the Leache-Wood Seminary for nearly two decades before retiring to Europe, where Leache died in 1900. To honor her memory and her life-long devotion to the arts, Wood established in Norfolk the Irene Leache Library, which nurtured a growing art collection for a future museum in the city. Their efforts inspired generations of women in the region. From the members of the Norfolk Society of the Arts to influential art patrons such as Florence Sloan and Jean Outland Chrysler, it was the women of Hampton Roads who insisted that the arts play a central role in the life of the community, and who paved the way for the rich cultural experiences that we enjoy in such abundance here today. ProvenanceGift of the Irene Leache Memorial Foundation to the Chrysler Museum of Art, March 2014.Exhibition History"Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010.
Harry Cowles Mann