William Ludwig

Louisiana Vietnam War Veterans Memorial

This life-sized sculpture of three soldiers carrying their wounded comrade from the field under fire was commissioned of sculptor William Ludwig by the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, a group of Louisiana Vietnam veterans. The piece was ordered in February of 1984 and was dedicated on Veterans’ Day of the same year. This was the first of several subsequent Vietnam veterans’ monuments to be erected in the United States.

The sculpture is located on the Plaza Level of the New Orleans Superdome. The four figures and bronze base measure 10’h x 8’w x 5 ½’deep. The wall behind the sculpture contains several bronze plaques listing the year-by-year history of that war.

Two Citrus Workers

Two life-sized figures of orange grove workers commissioned by the City of Orlando, Florida in 1992 of artist William Ludwig. The figures are located in Leu Gardens in Orlando.

The figure sitting on the orange crate peeling an orange is 54”h x 60”d x 36”w. The standing figure on the ladder picking oranges is 106”h x 45”d x 40”w. The entire ladder is cast in bronze. The close-up photo shows two of the labels from actual Orlando area growers, which were recreated in three dimensions for the bronze crates.

Crucifix

Life-sized cast bronze figure of Christ on an 8-foot cypress cross.

The piece was commissioned of artist William Ludwig by St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, Louisiana in 1997. It is mounted high above the altar in front of a huge window wall. The close-up picture of the face shows the detail and the use of the crown of thorns as a halo.

Ignatius J. Reilly

Bronze portrait by sculptor William Ludwig of fictional character Ignatius J. Reilly from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Ignatius J. Reilly is a quintessential New Orleans character in a book beloved by New Orleans residents. The book begins, “In the shadow under the green visor of the cap, Ignatius J. Reilly’s supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D. H. Holmes Department Store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress.” The statue of Ignatius has been placed under the clock at the location of the former D. H. Holmes Department Store, now a Chateau Sonesta Hotel who commissioned this work to grace their entrance. The model for the sculpture was John McConnell who has portrayed Ignatius so magnificently in the stage play.

The life-sized piece was completed in 1996 and measures 71”h x 30”w x 20”d.