Portrait of Irv Kupcinet

Since the train wasn't working,
I was walking home through the loop
last Monday night....
when I nearly bumped into this 9 foot fellow
on the north bank of the Chicago River.








It was a portrait of Chicago's legendary
gossip columnist,Irv Kupcinet

and it was designed by the Professor of Sculptor
at the School of the Art Institute, Preston Jackson




It's really quite impressive,
especially in the evening shadows along the river



it comes across
as .. perhaps a bit demonic
quite in keeping with
this exhibit
the sculptor had last year
that was dedicated to the evils of slavery

But it's also quite a powerful sculpture -
since -- well -- it actually is a sculpture
and not a large doll, cartoon, or natural history specimen






It's got scale,
and punch,
and elegance,
and rhythm.

And it's crackling, angular
surface seems to engage well
with the surrounding urban canyon.


I'm afraid it's neighbor on the riverfront,
the Heald Square monument
to Washington, Salomon, and Morris
by Lorado Taft and Leonard Crunelle,
suffers by comparison