Lot 7183
David C. Tatman (American, 1914-1969), Original Design Sketch for U.S. Navy Memorial and the USS Constitution
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Frame dimensions 26 1/2 x 63 in.
From the Estate of a Prominent Architect and Artist, Zurich, Switzerland and Blacksburg, Virginia
Conceived in 1938 as the winning entry for the prestigious John Stewardson Memorial Scholarship in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, David C. Tatman's A Memorial to the Navy envisioned USS Constitution as the centerpiece of a monumental national memorial celebrating the history and traditions of the United States Navy. The competition, developed by renowned Beaux Arts architect Paul Philippe Cret, challenged participants to create a grand riverside setting that would preserve the famed frigate "Old Ironsides" while incorporating a naval museum, ceremonial terraces, gardens, and memorial spaces for patriotic gatherings. Tatman's restrained classical design, inspired by Cret's own celebrated memorial architecture, earned him the scholarship and launched his distinguished architectural career.
The present drawing is a remarkable and historically significant recent rediscovery. While Tatman's original presentation drawings were long believed lost, photographs documenting the project were uncovered only recently in the archives of the University of Pennsylvania, bringing renewed attention to this important but largely forgotten chapter in the history of American memorial design. As an original working sketch for the winning proposal, this drawing represents an exceptionally rare surviving artifact from one of the most ambitious unrealized architectural tributes ever conceived for USS Constitution, capturing the vision of America's most celebrated warship as a permanent national monument and symbol of the country's naval heritage.
Toning to sheet; some cockling to sheet; not examined out of the frame.
