La madre del emigrante

Author Ramón Muriedas.

Monumental public work, inaugurated on September 18, 1970, commissioned by the National Institute of Immigration along with the Asturian Government and the City of Gijón. (Bronze)

It is a sculpture with a strong symbolic character, which caused some confusion among the inhabitants of Gijón in the seventies, due to the advancedness of its formal language. Little by little, and after a complicated journey, this work, nicknamed by the locals “La Lloca del Rinconín”, has become an authentic icon of the city, being one of the most appreciated sculptures by the people of Gijón.

It is an enormously expressive piece that shows the dramatic moment in which a mother sees her son leave for an uncertain future on the other side of the Atlantic. His distorted face reflects the drama of that moment. With his eyes lost in the infinite, his body leans forward in a desperate gesture and reaches out his hand towards the sea, as if wanting to reach the ship that is moving away on the horizon.