Zayed Bin Sultan, Al Nayan - Equestrian statues

CountryUnited Arab Emirates
Town:Abu Dhabi
Year of creation:2013
Rider(s):Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayan, Al Nayan

(1918 – 2004) was the ruler of Abu Dhabi for more than 30 years: from 1966 until his death. He was the founding father and the principal driving force behind the formation of the United Arab Emirates, uniting seven emirates. In 1976 he founded the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which grew to be the world’s third-largest sovereign investment fund by 2020, with nearly a trillion US dollars’ worth of assets under management. He is popularly referred to in the UAE as the Father of the Nation.
Sculptor(s):Corpany, Kim

Kim Corpany grew up on the backs of her family’s horses in Morgan, Utah. Being horse crazy from the start, Kim’s artwork has nearly always revolved around horses.
She earned an AS degree from Weber State University and then a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Utah State University.
Kim has worked with sculptor and bronze foundry owner Stan Watts and his foundry Atlas Bronze Casting to create numerous bronze monuments worldwide including George Washington on his stallion, which is located at Freedoms Foundation, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Description:

Photos from website Kim Corpany

Kim’s most recent monument is a 1 and 1/2 life-size monument of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayan on his Arabian horse. Kim and her team traveled to Abu Dhabi for 20 days where they assembled and patina-ed the bronze sculpture prior to installing it at the entrance to the Al Forsan Shooting Sports Resort. The monument was of such size that after assembling it in the foundry in the USA, the sculpture had to then be cut into sections and crated so that it could be air freighted to Abu Dhabi. The entire project was quite an exhausting adventure which had to be completed in 8 months from small conceptual Marquette to finished and installed monument.