“Unconditional Surrender”
By Tracy Eisnaugle
Various controversies surround the intriguing WWII commemorative statue that graces our bay front, the Unconditional Surrender. I was searching for vintage movie posters for a client recently when I ran across a photograph depicting the renowned embracing couple. It got me thinking about how this one image could stir such sentiment and popularity that it would later be resurrected into a towering statue.
The Unconditional Surrender by J. Seward Johnson is a twenty-six foot tall sculpture replicating the notorious photograph taken during the WWII’s V-J Day celebration titled, The Kiss at Times Square captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life Magazine on August 14, 1945. The nameless sailor and nurse were wrapped in a tender embrace, a liberating expression of victory and an uninhibited celebration of freedom.
I must admit that I drive along the bay front a few times a week and the massive kissing couple always makes me smile. A romantic at heart, and also a graduate from our local Sarasota High School, “Home of the Mighty Sailors,” therefore I still have an affinity for a seaman in uniform. While waiting in traffic I always see numerous couples circling in delight, posing and taking photos, pointing and smiling. On Christmas morning while coming back from running the causeway I witnessed a young man proposing to his now fiancé under the romantic monument.
Evoking all ages, but why? I ask, so I attained my public relations representative, Miss Ladybyrd Divine, also our family dog and head of security. Leash in hand we headed down to the bay front to do some research. In just two short hours we met over a dozen groups of visitors, some local and some from as far away as New Zealand. They had all either driven by or had heard about the statue from someone else; “A must see!” they were told. Almost each group of sightseers took photos and more than half struck the famous pose. Old and young, veterans and civilians, all drawn to this tender display of affection, using words such as freedom, pride, glory, love, honor, hope and triumph to describe the art they were admiring.
The word art is the first of the many controversies that surrounds this popular statue. Many art critics claim that reproducing a famous image from a photograph is not original artwork, though the people who gather to enjoy the sculpture seem to differ on that opinion; whether it is true original art or not, it is being greatly enjoyed by a large group of people and attracting a lot of attention.
The art critics originally won the battle, but they did not win the war, after much criticism by the public art advisory committee the peaceful statue surrendered to its adversaries and traveled to the Navy loving town of San Diego. Sarasota locals adored the patriotic and romantic symbol and they fought to bring it back to the Suncoast. A local non-profit raised enough money to have the statue return and grace our bay front once again.
The original photograph itself is part of its own disparity; two photographers took the same image at the same time, so there are two of these pictures being rapidly reproduced for poster art across the nation. Alfred Eisenstaedt reflected on his account of taking the photograph on V-J Day; he was in Times Square rapidly taking photos to capture the celebration when he saw a sailor running down the street grabbing any and every girl in sight. Eisenstaedt was running ahead of him and when the sailor grabbed the nurse the composition was perfect, the sailor in his blue uniform and the nurse in all white created a stunning contrast. U.S. Navy photo journalist Victor Jorgensen took a very similar photograph of the same couple at the exact same time, the only difference is the angle is slightly to the right, changing the background and the photo is closer, cropping off both the nurse and the sailors’ legs.
The biggest and still debated controversy is the kissing couple themselves; our photographers were so busy taking photos, freezing moments in time that they did not get their subjects names. In August of 1980 the editors of Life Magazine requested that the kissing sailor and the nurse come forward, eleven men and three women claimed to be the famous couple. After extensive research Edith Shain and Glenn McDuffie were declared the probable duo. It is quiet ironic that we find the statue so romantic when in reality it is a snapshot of two people who did not know each other and never saw each other again sharing a quick celebratory moment.
As the statue resides on our scenic bay front with the Sarasota Bay as its serene backdrop it sits in great contrast to where the original event took place, in the busy streets of New York’s Times Square. We can debate the art aspect, the actual people in the photograph, and even the location, but what we cannot debate is that Sarasota and her visitors love this statue and hope to become the lasting home of the inspirational Unconditional Surrender.
Tracy L. Eisnaugle has practiced interior design in Sarasota since 1997 and is currently self employed providing design consultation services in the area. She is a graduate from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and continues her education by attending annual conferences. Her past experience includes, Design Center Manager for Lee Wetherington Homes, high-end residential design and model merchandising. Tracy may be reached at 941.232.3358 or by e-mail at tleisnaugle@msn.com [1].
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