Thorfinn Karlsefni (sculpture)
Thorfinn Karlsefni is a bronze statue by Icelandic sculptor Einar Jónsson. The first casting of it is located in Fairmount Park on Kelly Drive, at the North end of Boathouse Row, Philadelphia. The sculpture was commissioned by Joseph Bunford Samuel through a bequest that his wife, Ellen Phillips Samuel, made to the Association for Public Art (formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association), specifying that the funds were to be used to create a series of sculptures "emblematic of the history of America." "Thorfinn Karlsefni" (1915–1918) was installed along Philadelphia's Kelly Drive near the Samuel Memorial and  unveiled on November 20, 1920. The artwork is one of 51 sculptures included in the Association for Public Art's Museum Without Walls: AUDIO™ interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture. There is another casting of the statue in Reykjavík, Iceland. The inscription reads: (Sculpture, lower proper left:) Einar Jonsson sculptor 1915-18 (On back of Karlsefni's shield: Icelandic verse) From the island of the North, of ice and snow, Of blossoming valleys and blue mountains, Of the midnight sun and the dreamy mists, The home of the goddess of northern lights. (Base, front:) Thorfinn Karlsefni Icelander  1003-1006 (Base, front plaque:) Following Leif Ericson's Discovery of North America in 1003, Thorfinn Karlsefni with 165 men and 35 women established a settlement which lasted for 3 years and his son Snorri was born in North America Leif Ericson Society of Pennsylvania Scandinavian Craft Club of Philadelphia October 9, 1974 Vandalism. White supremacists held events at the Philadelphia statue in 2008 and 2013. The statue was spray painted with anarchist and antifascist symbols in 2017, and then was toppled from its base and dragged into the Schuylkill River in the overnight hours between October 1 and 2 , 2018. As of July 2020 the statue had still not been returned to display, although it had been recovered from the river and was awaiting restoration.