The great-great niece of Virginia Woolf has responded to opponents of a recently unveiled riverbank statue of the author, whose site has been deemed disrespectful.
The renowned English author, who struggled with mental illness throughout her life, committed suicide at the age of 59 in the River Ouse near her home in Sussex in 1941.
The new £50,000 bronze statue, which was unveiled this week, is allegedly offensive, inconsiderate, and may even inspire copycat suicide attempts, according to activists.
The life-size statue of the renowned author of Mrs. Dalloway presently rests on a bench overlooking the Thames in Richmond, south-west London.
The Richmond Society deemed the placement of the statue near water to be “wrong,” with the group’s chairman, Barry May, stating that it “may cause pain to anyone who understands her tale and is in a vulnerable situation.”
Sophie Partridge, Woolf’s great-great niece, stated at the unveiling event that detractors of the project had a’very narrow way of thinking’ and that her late relative should not be defined by how she died.
Ms. Partridge stated, “I believe the criticism is a very limited perspective.”
“Virginia Woolf has been characterized by her death, but she is so much more.”
“She is seated by the river, and to me, the river symbolizes life.”
Ms. Partridge stated that the author’s family remembers her as a lively, amusing woman who was “always intriguing and interested.”
She continued, “She was always described as being extremely kind, generous, and loving, as well as smart and entertaining.”
This is not how one typically considers Virginia Woolf.
She was a somebody who enjoyed playing games with her family.
I recall my aunt recalling her voice and laugh in particular. She had a distinctive laugh.
My impression of her was that she was a multifaceted individual with possibly more contrast than you might expect.
She was extremely intelligent and energetic, as well as insightful, intriguing, and enthusiastic.
“I am ecstatic to see this statue of her uncovered; there is something quite natural about the way she is seated in front of the river.”
It is a happy time for her and her loved ones.
Earlier, her great-niece Emma Woolf commented, ‘It is a magnificent statue in a beautiful location.’
I hope that everyone enjoys this statue on such a beautiful, cloudy day in Richmond.
To honor Woolf, who lived with her husband Leonard Woolf at Hogarth House in Richmond from 1915 to 1924, plans for the statue overlooking Richmond Riverside were revealed in 2017 for the first time.
During their time in Richmond, they established the renowned Hogarth Press publishing house, which went on to publish some of the 20th century’s most influential authors, such as Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, and Stephen Spender, as well as translations of Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Proust, and seminal works such as T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud
Richmond Council awarded approval for the statue to the charity Aurora Metro in 2018.
Authors and celebrities including Margaret Atwood, Caitlin Moran, Mark Haddon, and Phillip Pullman have backed the concept.
The local MP Sarah Olney and Lord Zac Goldsmith have also welcomed the initiative, while Richmond councillors have described the site as ‘poignant’ and a potential catalyst for conversations on mental health.
On Wednesday, over fifty individuals braved the rain to assemble around the statue, which was constructed by the renowned sculptor Laury Dizengremel.
Ms. Dizengremel described her invention as a “labor of love.”
She remarked, “A public artwork represents only a single time in a person’s life.”
When sculpting a statue, there is a magical moment when the face comes to life and becomes full of actual presence.
I believed I had captured her spirit, as well as the wit and humor she shared with Leonard on that seat.
She stated that she hoped it would motivate her daughters and grandkids to become “women of accomplishment”
John Coombs, a councilman from Richmond, thanked the sculptor for creating a “wonderful tribute to the author.”
He added, “Our statue of her is an attempt to dispel the myth of the tortured genius.”
What are the most well-known of Virginia Woolf’s works?
Virginia Woolf is regarded as one of the greatest modernist authors of the 20th century, and more than seven decades after her passing, she continues to influence generations of writers and readers.
Alongside James Joyce and T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf was a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness – a narrative device that attempts to depict the many thoughts and emotions that pass through the mind of a narrator – as depicted most notably in Mrs. Dalloway.
After Virginia and her sister Vanessa moved to Bloomsbury, influential members such as Duncan Grant, Lytton Strachey, Clive Bell, and of course Leonard Woolf, gathered to discuss their shared views on pacifism, the arts, and bourgeoisie.
In addition to being her husband and publisher, Leonard became her caregiver and confidant. He was fully aware of Virginia’s relationship with writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West, which was described in the 1928 novel Orlando as a fascination and infatuation.
While Orlando is known for its questioning of gender, Woolf’s 1929 essay A Room Of One’s Own was also ahead of its time due to its assertion that a woman must be financially independent and free from motherhood in order to achieve personal success.
She is also well-known for her 1927 novel To The Lighthouse, which is frequently cited as a prime example of the literary technique of multiple focalization due to its lack of dialogue and almost complete absence of direct action. Instead, the majority of the text consists of thoughts and observations.