Chicago honored the greatest Greek-American sculptor Dimitri Hadzi
Originally published in Athinaika Plus
English translation:
Dimitri Hadzi. Have you ever heard of his name? Probably not. However our compatriot has been one of the greatest representatives of modern sculpting in the USA. He taught for a number of years in Harvard and has given some of his iconic works to the university, as he also has done for MoMA, Metropolitan, Guggenheim, Stanford and Princeton. He lived an exciting life, influenced by all the great events that took place in the 20th century that always sensed the “umbilical cord” which bound him to his homeland: “I am Greek, so it’s totally natural for me to hold a carving chisel” was one of his sayings. Just a few days ago a big exhibition of his took place in gallery Rosenthal in Chicago where his artistic and aesthetic trust was revealed. It’s an attempt of valuation of his great work,18 years after his death. This tribute was supported by the head of our embassy Emmanuel Koumbaraki.
The funniest story connecting Hadzi (whose father is descended from Kastoria) to Greece is about his dearest friend, Nobel price winner Seamus Heaney. In 1995, the Swedish Academia was looking for Heaney to inform him of his triumph the latter was nowhere to be found. That was because he was on a road trip in the Peloponnese region where they wouldn’t listen to the radio due to bad reception. It actually took a few days for the Αcademy to learn of the winner’s whereabouts because his visit in Greece wasn’t able to be precisely verifiable. His hotel reservation was made in Hadzi’s name. Heaney has written some of the most moving pieces regarding his friends art, mentioning the feelings and mental state the sculptures provoke to his viewers.
Born in 1921, in Greenwich village, Hadzi attended a Greek school in the evenings to learn history, mythology and Greek. His talent for painting was noticeable from an early age although he still ended up studying chemistry. In WW2 he served as a communications technician in the Pacific alongside the American troops. After that he decided to become an artist, enrolled in Cooper and came to Athens just a few years later with a Fulbright scholarship. He experienced the classical art of Greece, he traveled to Egypt and then continued on with his studies in Rome. He worked with bronze and stone, heavily influenced by the classical heritage all the while transmitting a different dynamic. In 2000 we were given the chance to view some of his work in Athens. Hopefully we will be able to see them again.
