July 1, 2010

Sculpting an Inconvenient Truth

5 Minutes With an Art Professor Whose Bust of Stalin Angered Veterans 2

Courtesy Richard Pumphrey

Richard Pumphrey's bronze bust of Joseph Stalin.

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close 5 Minutes With an Art Professor Whose Bust of Stalin Angered Veterans 2

Courtesy Richard Pumphrey

Richard Pumphrey's bronze bust of Joseph Stalin.

By Sophia Li

Richard G. Pumphrey, a professor of art at Lynchburg College, in Virginia, spent about a year sculpting the former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. When he was finished, the bronze bust took its place as part of the National D-Day Memorial, in Bedford, Va., along with Mr. Pumphrey's sculptures of six other leaders of Allied forces in World War II.

The installation has sparked vocal reactions both criticizing and defending the decision to represent Stalin. But despite the charged

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