The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in LosAngeles, currently under construction and scheduled to be completedlater this year, has received a valuable addition to its growing artcollection.
John Zavrel of Clarence, New York, director forCultural Affairs of the German-American National Congress (DANK),presented the original, larger-than-life bronze bust of the formerPresident to Ronald Reagan in his office in the Century City in LosAngeles.
He was accompanied by the artist, the prominentGerman sculptor KurtArentz and Ron Voth (San Jose), of theInternationalCommittee "Artists For Ecology."
"You made me look a little younger," joked thePresident with a happy smile, as he saw the sculpture. "This bustwill certainly find a place in my presidential library," continuedthe President, as he welcomed the 56-year old artist from Leverkusen,Germany. Reagan recalled his last trip with his wife Nancy to theRhineland and his meeting with the Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn."During this trip we received as a gift a large chunk of thecommunist Berlin Wall. It will be displayed as a monument in front ofthe Reagan Library."
"It was my intention not only to achieve alikeness of Ronald Reagan in the portrait, but also to capture theoptimism, courage, and the faith in the future that Ronald Reaganexpressed during the various decades of his life," remarked KurtArentz about his bust.
The portrait bust of Ronald Reagan, commissionedby John Zavrel in his years -long efforts to promote cooperation andfriendly relations between the United States and Germany on anunofficial, people-to-people basis, belongs within the framework ofportraits of important personalities of our time, created by KurtArentz.
To them belong bronzes of the German ChancellorsHelmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt, the German Presidents Richard vonWeizsaecker and Karl Carstens, the political figures Franz JosefStrauss, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the publisher Axel Springer, artistsLeonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Peter Hofmann, andothers.
The portrait of Ronald Reagan is a homage to agreat statesman, whom the majority of Germans compare with KonradAdenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic, in theirachievements, radiance, and fascination.
Konrad Adenauer, as a loyal ally of the UnitedStates, has the historical merit to have led the Germans already in1945 to the side of the free West.
Ronald Reagan has always been very popular withthe majority of the German people, young and old. With his memorablevisit to Berlin and his public demand to the Soviet leadership to"Let the wall fall," he gave courage to people on both sides. Thisunforgettable gesture of determination and faith resulted not only inthe destruction of the infamous "Berlin Wall," but also in theeventual reunification of Germany later on in 1990. The politicalstrategy of strength and negotiation was successful.
"This meeting is the second occasion that I havereceived gifts from the German-American National Congress," said Mr.Reagan to John Zavrel. He was referring to the gift of two bronzeeagles PEACE and LIBERTY by Kurt Arentz, which were presented to himseveral years ago through NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner andthe former U.S. Ambassador Richard Burt.
"Judging from the significant amount of Americanand foreign art in my office, it's clear that art does play a strongrole in nurturing international relations," concluded thePresident.
To promote transatlantic cultural exchange, theEuro-American Sculpture Garden is currently preparing an exhibitionof the works of Kurt Arentz. Enquiries by art museums and galleriesshould be directed to John Zavrel, Museum of European Art, 10545 MainStreet, Clarence, NY 14031.
We recommend these books:
RonaldReagan: An American Story
ArnoBreker: His Art and Life, by B. John Zavrel
Primerfor Those Who Would Govern, by Hermann Oberth
AWorld Transformed, by George Bush
Eumeswil,by Ernst Jünger