Thursday, June 12, 2008

Photography: Public Art - Philadelphia

We're in Philadelphia this week on vacation. These pictures are from a previous trip. These three pieces are along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.

Kopernik

The piece above is called Kopernik. The artist is Dudley Vaill Talcott (1899-1986). The sculpture was dedicated on 8/15/73 and commemorates the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). It stands 12 feet tall and is located on the Parkway at 18th Street. There is a good write-up here. If you click on the photo you'll get a bigger image. You'll be able to see the scourge of all public statuary. There is a pigeon sitting on the lower part of the circle and ample evidence of other pigeons.

Three-Way Piece Number 1: Points

I wasn't able to find out as much information on this as on Kopernik. The artist was Henry Moore. The piece is 6 feet, 4 inches tall and is located on the Parkway near 16th Street. It was installed in 1964. I have recollections of seeing this piece in the late 1960s. This photo was taken by me in 2006. There may also be a copy of this located in Kansas City Missouri. While researching this I found an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about theft of metal statues. The copper dedication plaque for the piece was stolen sometime in January 2008. Apparently the whole statue was too big to take.

The Prophet
There was even less information on this piece. The artist was Jacob Lipkin and it was dedicated in 1968. It is currently located on the Parkway at 16th Street (it's to the right of the Henry Moore piece). It was originally located on John F. Kennedy Plaza, a few blocks down the Parkway but was moved here in 1974. It stands about 8 feet tall. Examples of Lipkin's work (although not this piece) can be found here.

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