An Unusual Pair

HERE ARE TWO VERY UNUSUAL SCULPTURES by the self-taught artist Romano Gabriel. They are from a private collection, and they are so odd and wonderful, I had to share them with you. Each figure is about 15-18 inches tall, and were from the original environment. If you have never heard of Romano Gabriel, here is some information about him:

Romano was born in Italy around 1887 and worked with his father making furniture. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1913, served in WWI and eventually settled in Eureka, CA. The story is that he always wanted a beautiful flower garden. However, the climate in Eureka is very cloudy and he was not so successful with gardening, so for the next 30 years he set about cutting flowers and eventually figures out of wood to decorate the front yard of his home.

The day that he died in 1977 word arrived from the California Arts Council that his environment was designated as an important piece of folk art. Today, the Gabriel Wooden Sculpture Garden is enclosed by glass, and located at 315 Second Street in Old Town Eureka, CA.

Here is a Flickr site I found that has some good photos of the site as it exists today. Just click here.