JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL MONUMENT

Mario Lupo's words are taken from 'Il mio incontro con Jonathan’ (My meeting with Jonathan) – catalogue for the unveiling of the monument – 25 May 1986.


My memory goes back to a now distant day in 1978, when I received a call from the Circolo dei Sambenedettesi asking me if I wanted to build a monument to a seagull. Wonder, amazement and a profound sense of joy merged with the satisfaction of being invited to design a lasting and significant work, not just for the city, but also anyone who appreciates art and wants to engage with it in some way.
For many years, the seagull was, and still is, the spiritual friend of my dreams, a faithful companion in my hours of solitude and the recurring, indeed dominant, subject of my paintings. I am not a sculptor, but the fascinating opportunity to become one immediately drew me in.
This is how my sleepless nights began, my fantasising, my tormented imagining and my ecstasy before a monument that I could already see completed and which expressed the total fulfilment of my youthful dreaming, when, from a small porthole in my berth (I was at sea at the time), I flew with the seagulls towards blue skies and calm or stormy seas. Walks on the quay, in solitude, but with an incredible inner drive, in search of the most beautiful place among the harbour cliffs where I could place my 'creature'. And then there were photos and sketches and more photos and drawings galore.

Until one day ... in Rome, at the 'L'Antica Pesa' restaurant in Trastevere, with my friend Bruno Bianchi and my son Riccardo, I glimpsed in the ring stain, left by a glass of wine on the tablecloth, the ideal solution for giving the monument its structure: the circle, perfection, the essential thread of union between Jonathan up there, so spiritual, and the other seagulls, left 'to graze'. New sketches and the first calculations for constructing the great circle, whose considerable size was to give the monument elegance, grandeur and solidity. In stark contrast to the bronze of the seagulls, a stainless-steel circle offers maximum resilience to the impetuous Adriatic winds, without detracting from the work's necessary appearance of lightness.


This is how I saw the great hero of the monument come to life, participating in a magical metamorphosis of my polystyrene model, first in wax, then in bronze.




... the monument to be erected was to be dedicated not to a seagull, but to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the main character in Richard Bach's magnificent novel, which, coincidentally, a friend from San Benedetto had given me a few years earlier, with the dedication: 'This book will bring you luck'.


It's wonderful to think that the monument was created mainly at the behest of the people of San Benedetto, to whom I send my warmest appreciation.
I was born in Giulianova on 1 July 1926, but I too have been a citizen of San Benedetto for twenty years. This is why I dedicate my work to the whole town as a tribute to and thanks for the friendly welcome I received here, when, coming from Ancona, I chose this beautiful shore for my happy 'landing'.
I feel honoured to have been given the coveted job and I am grateful to the Circolo dei Sambenedettesi for this.
Knowing that I have worked well professionally, I hope that I have succeeded in transferring to this work the feelings that, living for it over the years, have been a constant source of motivation for me.


JONATHAN LIVINGSTON
SEAGULL MONUMENT

Mario Lupo's words are taken
from 'Il mio incontro con Jonathan’ (My meeting with Jonathan) – catalogue for the unveiling of the monument – 25 May 1986.


My memory goes back to a now distant day in 1978, when I received a call from the Circolo dei Sambenedettesi asking me if I wanted to build a monument to a seagull. Wonder, amazement and a profound sense of joy merged with the satisfaction of being invited to design a lasting and significant work, not just for the city, but also anyone who appreciates art and wants to engage with it in some way.
For many years, the seagull was, and still is, the spiritual friend of my dreams, a faithful companion in my hours of solitude and the recurring, indeed dominant, subject of my paintings. I am not a sculptor, but the fascinating opportunity to become one immediately drew me in.
This is how my sleepless nights began, my fantasising, my tormented imagining and my ecstasy before a monument that I could already see completed and which expressed the total fulfilment of my youthful dreaming, when, from a small porthole in my berth (I was at sea at the time), I flew with the seagulls towards blue skies and calm or stormy seas. Walks on the quay, in solitude, but with an incredible inner drive, in search of the most beautiful place among the harbour cliffs where I could place my 'creature'. And then there were photos and sketches and more photos and drawings galore.

Until one day ... in Rome, at the 'L'Antica Pesa' restaurant in Trastevere, with my friend Bruno Bianchi and my son Riccardo, I glimpsed in the ring stain, left by a glass of wine on the tablecloth, the ideal solution for giving the monument its structure: the circle, perfection, the essential thread of union between Jonathan up there, so spiritual, and the other seagulls, left 'to graze'. New sketches and the first calculations for constructing the great circle, whose considerable size was to give the monument elegance, grandeur and solidity. In stark contrast to the bronze of the seagulls, a stainless-steel circle offers maximum resilience to the impetuous Adriatic winds, without detracting from the work's necessary appearance of lightness.


This is how I saw the great hero of the monument come to life, participating in a magical metamorphosis of my polystyrene model, first in wax, then in bronze.




... the monument to be erected was to be dedicated not to a seagull, but to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the main character in Richard Bach's magnificent novel, which, coincidentally, a friend from San Benedetto had given me a few years earlier, with the dedication: 'This book will bring you luck'.


It's wonderful to think that the monument was created mainly at the behest of the people of San Benedetto, to whom I send my warmest appreciation.
I was born in Giulianova on 1 July 1926, but I too have been a citizen of San Benedetto for twenty years. This is why I dedicate my work to the whole town as a tribute to and thanks for the friendly welcome I received here, when, coming from Ancona, I chose this beautiful shore for my happy 'landing'. I feel honoured to have been given the coveted job and I am grateful to the Circolo dei Sambenedettesi for this.
Knowing that I have worked well professionally, I hope that I have succeeded in transferring to this work the feelings that, living for it over the years, have been a constant source of motivation for me.