
Grant Speed(1930-2011)John Wayne 33in high
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Grant Speed (1930-2011)
inscribed 'UG Speed © CA / 1983' (on the base) and '20/40' (along the base)
bronze with dark brown patina
33in high
Modeled in 1983.
Footnotes
Provenance
Texas Art Gallery, Dallas, Texas.
Acquired by the late owner from the above, 1984.
Literature
S.H. McGarry, Honoring The Western Tradition: The L.D. "Brink" Brinkman Collection, Kerrville, Texas, 2003, p. 158, illustrated.
The artist was a great admirer of the actor, John Wayne, pictured here as the subject of the present work. Grant Speed once told L.D. Brinkman in a letter, "John Wayne was more than an actor and a celebrity. To me he was an outstanding man. He seemed to bring out the best in people and to be a man who could inspire them to have more confidence in themselves, people around them, and this country. He is a person I've always wanted to do in bronze, and when I received the commission to do 'John Wayne' I was very pleased, because to me, he typified the real red-blooded American Hero on and off the screen."1
1 Grant Speed, unpublished letter, 29 January 1991.