Sculpture Unveiling and Reception for Mocha by Ralph J. Menconi (1915 - 1972)

Sculpture Unveiling and Reception for 

Mocha

by Ralph J. Menconi (1915-1972)

Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 12:30 pm

Cape Cod Museum of Art Sculpture Garden

Free and open to the public! Light refreshments.

RSVPs appreciated.

The Cape Cod Museum of Art is excited to unveil its newest addition to the Yasuna Deny Sculpture Garden on May 29, 2025 at 12:30.

Mocha (A young goat taking its first steps), was created by artist by Ralph J. Menconi in 1937. A posthumous bronze casting of Mocha was recently gifted to the Museum by the Marjorie Menconi Trust, Ralph J. Menconi ll, Trustee.  

One of the artist's earliest works by prominent American sculptor Ralph J. Menconi, Mocha was modeled in the summer of 1937 while Ralph Menconi was a student at the Yale School of Fine Arts.  His career spanned five decades, including his apprenticeship in New York with his father Raffaello E. Menconi, a widely esteemed architectural sculptor.  "Mocha" was part of a retrospective exhibition of Ralph Menconi's medallic and statuary works at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in 2001. Ralph J Menconi work can be seen all over the United States. This placement is particularly appropriate because the Menconi family spent many summers on the Cape, and his son Ralph ll is a now full-time resident of Yarmouth Port.

This winter, Benton Jones, CCMoA Director of Art supervised and completed the mold making, bronze casting and finishing work of the fragile 88 year old original plaster pattern of Mocha to ensure it will be enjoyed for generations in the Cape Cod Museum of Art's Sculpture Garden. 

Ralph Menconi grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson NY, a few miles north of New York City where he apprenticed with his father, Rafaello Menconi, an accomplished architectural sculptor originally from Tuscany, Italy.  His father was a great inspiration to young Ralph who went on to study at the National Academy of Design, and later at Yale University School of Fine Arts where he created "Mocha", one of his first works. 

In the summers, Ralph studied at the Tiffany Foundation on Long Island NY before beginning service in the US Army Corps of Engineers during the Second World War, attaining the rank of Major and earning a Bronze Star. Of local interest would be that Ralph began his military service at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod before shipping overseas to Africa and Europe.

During his artistic career, which spanned five decades, Ralph Menconi's most important works include a statue of Christ at the Cathedral in Nassau, Bahamas, and large busts and fountains at Pace University in New York and DePaul University in Indiana.  He had studios both in New York City and Pleasantville NY where he lived with his wife Marjorie and children Ralph and Susan. In Pleasantville, Ralph created Biblical figures for the Emanuel Lutheran Church and its reredos, or altar screen. Despite his busy schedule, he had time for civic duties, serving on both the Village's Board of Trustees and as Police Commissioner.

Ralph Menconi was also a highly respected medallist, or sculptor of medals.  His work in this field was characterized by a high-relief and three-quarter view of most of his subjects.  This differentiated his style from the more conventional flat-relief and profile-view used by most other artists.  Many of his subjects were US Presidents, and Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson and Nixon all posed for him for official medals.  He also designed a memorial medal for President John F. Kennedy following his assassination.  Other medallic works included series on the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, the original Mercury and Apollo astronauts, and statehood medals featuring historical figures from each of the fifty states.  These medal series continue to be highly prized by collectors.

During his lifetime, Ralph Menconi received awards from the American Numismatic Association, the Freedom Foundation, and the American Academy of Achievement, among others. In 1971, he was awarded a Doctorate of Fine Arts from Hamilton College.

In 2001, the Cape Cod Museum of Art held a posthumous retrospective exhibition of his work that included "Mocha" who now has found a permanent home at the museum as a gift from the Marjorie Menconi Trust, Ralph J Menconi ll, Trustee. Invaluable to this project have been the contributions of Benton Jones, Director of Art and a skilled sculptor and craftsman.