In honor of the 50th anniversary of the travels for peace of Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist philosopher, World Poet Laureate and educator, an 8-foot bronze of Walt Whitman with Butterfly will be on display at the Whitman Birthplace. The statue, which usually resides in a Tokyo sculpture park, will be open for public viewing during the regular hours of the Whitman Birthplace from October 12, 2010.
“A poet of the people”, says Ikeda, “Whitman’s work was a companion to me in my youth. I still remember the thrill I felt when, in impoverishment following the war’s end (WWII), I scraped together the money to buy a translation of Leaves of Grass…Whitman’s poetry magnanimously affirms humanity and celebrates hope for a new age. This volume, which encouraged more than I can say, was priceless to me.”
The statue was sculpted by John Giannotti. Giannotti’s paintings and sculptures have been exhibited world-wide including solo shows at the Gallery of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, England; the Galleria Lucia Burgassi, Galleria Uraniadue, and the Galleria Cimabue in Florence, Italy; and the Margaret Lipworth Gallery in Boca Raton, Florida.
His monumental bronze sculptures and other works are in public and private collections in the U.S., Italy, Switzerland, Venezuela, Australia, and Japan, where his bronze monuments of Walt Whitman and Madame Curie stand in sculpture parks at Soka University in Tokyo.
Walt Whitman Birthplace, 246 Old Walt Whitman Rd., West Hills. 631-427-5240
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