A wholesale car dealer in Milwaukie, Oregon has built a 60 foot replica of the Statue of Liberty in its parking lot at Roethe Road and McLoughlin Blvd.
EXTRA – more about this landmark at waymarking.com
sculpture
Archived Posts from this Category
April 27, 2008
April 27, 2008
I loath everything about Raymond Kaskey’s 1985 hammered copper sculpture, bolted to Michael Graves‘ Portland Building.
The name sounds like boosters at the City Club thought it up on a boozy Friday afternoon. The first mention of the name in the paper of record is in 1986. Yes there are female trident-carrying goddess types in local decorative artwork, but these were previously referred to as “Columbia,” a general 19th Century patriotic icon, not Portlandia.
The location, perched on the third floor landing of a garish pomo hybrid government building, surrounded now by leafy trees, is both incongruous and hard to see. An unsubtle message from the City Forester who has selected thirty foot trees to block views of the sculpture from distance at every angle.
(The best place to see Portlandia is the observation area directly across the street in the Standard Insurance building, available 24/7 if you say hello to the security guard. Take the outdoor escalators up one floor.)
The pose of the artwork, at its on the Portland Building, is patronizing. The unsubtle message is, “Here, let the City and County bureaucracy give you a hand up from that hole you have dug yourself into.” Hunched, blank eyed, expressionless, it’s an arrogant provincial spoof of the Statue of Liberty. Perhaps the original proposal called for a welcoming gesture, but in artistic execution and surrounding context that proposed meaning is lost.
An example of how the banality bears fruit; when describing Portlandia, invariably the comment is about how large the artwork is, or how difficult it was to make, or transport. Never about the message, grace or beauty.
Regular readers know my affection for 19th Century narrative sculpture. Kaskey apes the Classical / heroic monument style using witless content, revealing the banality of his patrons. Tho the artwork is maintained on the chamber of commerce tour, visitors are puzzled. She’s large, not graceful; large, but hidden; large but why is it large? All that copper for what? What’s the what?
This is such a collegial, convivial town, true consideration of Portlandia has been an unobserved chuckle, added to a list which later included the Portland Tram and Wapato Jail, as attempts by disconnected politicians to satisfy business interests at the expense of fiscal prudence.
Jack Ohman sums Portlandia up in a recent editorial cartoon in the Oregonian, spoofing both the expense of the Portland Building and it’s poor interior design.
EXTRA – Portlandia Turns 20 in 2005, from RACC
April 25, 2008
A home on Northeast Columbia Boulevard has kept a concrete monument of the former president of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1963, in office 1955-1963) in it’s front yard overseeing thousands of trucks and trains each day, for the past 20+ years.
Diem’s amazing, corrupt, and dynamic career set the stage for the US defeat in Southeast Asia. For some Vietnamese who profited greatly in the early years of the wars may consider Diem to be an modern leader for a tiny weak nation stuck between two superpowers. For the rest of the world he was a petty dictator propped up by the French and the US. History hasn’t been kind to Diem or his supporters, so it’s interesting to find this sculpture and note it’s duration in one place.
The features show a young Diem, heroic and masculine. The pedestal has a picture of elks – the sculpture doesn’t fit it correctly. It’s a mash up.
The sculpture is about two-times life size, and I estimate it’s weight at over 800 pounds. I doubt it was cast around here, so it must have been transported, by truck, from where it was cast – probably a community with a large number of Vietnamese in the 1970s, Seattle or San Jose – and the set in position using some sort of crane or hoist. Quite a complicated arrangement.
April 21, 2008
Another 19th Century plaster cast of a classic, this version of the Choiseul-Gouffier Apollo is a replica of a Roman copy of a lost, probably bronze, Greek original.
This sculpture (right) lives at the Portland Art Museum’s annex, the Mark Building.
The name is even misleading. Kouroi, or statues of naked male youth, were often called “apollos” as if all were images of the god. Choiseul-Gouffier is not the artist, but the French scholar Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier, ambassador to Greece and member of the L’Académie Française. Choiseul-Gouffier brought the marble sculpture from the Sublime Porte, and it’s home is now the British Museum (see image at the lower right).
Contemporary scholars call the sculpture and it’s many versions the Omphalos Apollo, a nickname taken from the navel stone which was found near the Greek original.
The left hand probably held a small bow, and the right either a bough of laurel or a quiver. At the bottom, a version at the Musei Capitolini in Rome, has had ambiguous hands added by it’s Roman craftsman. The full body from a side view forms a slight “S” shape; it’s head tilts away and down, regal and disengaged. The weight is on the left heel, the body is in motion, walking toward the viewer. The nakedness is shameless, elegant, and cold.
When the casts originally came to Portland their nakedness was described as immodest. I think it shows the power of the images to immediately ascribe them with a human character trait. The founders of the Museum decided for the general public the sculptures be dressed in tunics to cover their nakedness. Perhaps more revealing late evening tours were arranged for the burgeoning intelligencia.
Like the Doryphorus described below, this sculpture is stunning. Even with the seams and bolt holes left from a crude casting, the imperious genius of the Hellene artist and his god cuts through the centuries. A teaching tool to leverage a provincial cultural community, this item is still regularly visited and sketched.
Consider the billions of digital photographs littering the internet, taken from every angle, both old and new, together create an entire virtual world of replica images. We take them for granted, and use them to teach ourselves about the state of the world. We don’t doubt the reality of one because it always sits within a context of a billion similar images, all false. As Magritte says, “this is not a pipe.” No, it’s a painting of a dream of a pipe, and so this cast versions of artwork are also a dream of a dream, a bright focused light in the shadows of a pre-historical world.
April 19, 2008
Several stories to tell about the Portland Art Museum’s casts of Roman statues, which are replicas of early and lost Greek works, including this Doryphorus by Polykleitos (click the picture to enlarge).
Importantly and foremost, these casts were and are teaching tools; replicas yes, but fair representations from a time when travel was difficult and Naples was a far distant civilization. I don’t know why the museum bought a version without arms. Casts or replicas of important artworks was often the only way a provincial community could acquire a grand artwork, and an essential step in developing a curious arts community.
More about the 1890s cast collection at the Portland Art Museum web site.
This plaster cast of something like the Doryphorus of Polykleitos is still breathtaking in it’s simplicity and perfect 6-1 form. The Doryphorus is also called The Spear Carrier (see below, a excellent cast at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow). The original this cast was taken from is at the Naples National Archaeological Museum.
According to a card describing the remaining collection in the ground floor hallways of the Mark Building (free and open daily, excellent for evading Springtime cloudbursts), “A group of 100 casts were acquired in 1893-94 by Winslow B Ayer, with funds donated by Henry W Corbett, both museum founders. As the museum acquired more original artworks, the importance of the casts to the museum’s program dwindled. The majority were eventually loaned to to local universities as educational resources for art students.”
Ayers was a lumber and railroad man. Mrs. Ayers went with him to Europe to buy the casts. The funds were $10,000, or $100 apiece. Corbett was in hardware and wholesale merchandising and later became a federal senator. Their actions, leveraging culture at an early moment in Portland’s development, now result in this city not being Spokane or Toledo or Buffalo – their small investment paid high dividends for their ancestors, those who appreciate Portland’s public art.
In 1893-94 Portland still hung a scraping tool for dung at all doorways. These were forward thinking men who carefully planned a cultural attraction for their adopted city.
Cool – this could be a statewide treasure hunt! There are only a handful left on display with the PAM so the remainder, which haven’t been swiped, should still be on display. If you find one of these spooking your college library, post a note below.
An important, growing, and spectacularly weird art-business story is an estimated 60% of all art sold now comes from Chinese city of Dafen, as described recently by James Fallows. Examples such as this excellent marble replica of Doryphorus at Museum Replicas – – just $5,400 – show why first the Romans and now the Chinese rule the world (see image at right).
April 5, 2008
See a complete slide show by clicking HERE.
The Parthenon Frieze c. 448-432 BCE
From a card pasted to the wall – The plaster reliefs found throughout the promenade and the sunken ballroom [of the former Masonic Temple, now the Mark Building], are from the Frieze which once encircled the Parthenon in Athens. The frieze is an idealized representation of the procession of the Partheneia festival, a celebration of Athena, Goddess of wisdom and war, and protector of Athens – which happened every four years. The original marble frieze was likely finished with brightly hued encaustic paint.
The procession of figures and animals started at the southwest corner and proceeds in both directions, converging at the center of the east facade – the entrance to the temple – which housed the forty-foot gold and ivory statue of Athena.
I think these are from the infamous collection stolen from Greece by Elgin from 1801 to 1812, still locked up at the British Museum.
EXTRA – Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles
March 20, 2008
Statue heads found – thanks to a jail inmate
Posted by pdxart under Sacagawea, sculptureLeave a Comment
From the Daily Astorian – March 20, 2008
Russel Reier said he tried to tell investigators he knew where to find the head of Sacagawea.
The Clatsop County jail inmate said he knew where two heads from a bronze statue stolen from Fort Clatsop were, he just needed someone to listen to him.
A 5 1/2-foot statue of Sacagawea and her baby, Jean Baptiste Charboneau, was stolen from its mounting bolts at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park site Jan. 19. The case attracted national publicity. One man has been sentenced to 50 days in jail after admitting the crime March 5.
As Reier was being moved from the jail to the Community Corrections Transition Center Monday, he approached Paul Tesi, the county jail commander.
Tesi said Reier told him, “Lieutenant, I need to talk to you. I know where the head of Sacagawea is.”
So Tesi took him aside and Reier began to draw a map.
“How about I just take you to them?” he volunteered.
Deputies took Reier a few blocks down Bond Street, where he pointed out a truck.
The law enforcement officers couldn’t see the heads in the truck. And they didn’t have a search warrant. So while they were deciding what to do, they heard Reier behind them yell, “Here they are!”
The man had reached in the truck and pulled out a canvas bag containing the heads.
They were in reasonable condition, although the necks were tangled where they had been ripped off the statue.
The owner of the truck wasn’t available.
His aunt reportedly told police officers that he was out of town … and didn’t plan to return.
READ – Stolen Sacagawea statue head found in pickup truck, KGW.com
READ – Portland Public Art Man gets 50 days for Sacagawea statue theft.
READ – Portland Public Art Art for meth: What an unholy bargain
March 6, 2008
“A liberal is a conservative who hasn’t been mugged yet” – Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia mayor.
Man gets 50 days for Sacagawea statue theft – KATU / AP
ASTORIA, Ore. – The man who stole a statue of Sacagawea and her baby from a national park in January pleaded guilty to the crime Wednesday and was sentenced to just 50 days in jail, prosecutors said.
Marcus D. Bologna, 32, of Gearhart, pleaded guilty to charges that included first-degree aggravated theft, first-degree criminal mischief and abuse of a venerated object.
According to Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis, Oregon sentencing guidelines prevented Circuit Judge Philip Nelson from imposing a more severe sentence. The prosecutor did not specifically explain why in a press release.
The aggravated theft charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Bologna had a criminal record that included felony burglary and three misdemeanors, prosecutors said.
The 5 1/2-foot bronze statue of Sacagawea and Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was discovered missing from Fort Clatsop National Memorial Park near Astoria on Jan. 20. It was worth an estimated $20,000.
Prosecutors said Bologna tried to sell pieces of the statue to a Portland scrap metal yard but was turned down. Eventually, three people in Bend were arrested after selling pieces of the statue for $517, prosecutors said. The status of those three was not clear Wednesday.
Authorities said such crimes occur because people sell metal to get fast cash to buy illegal drugs.
EXTRA – Art for meth: What an unholy bargain
February 24, 2008
I’ve first wrote about the Harvey Scott (d. 1910) sculpture by Gutzom Borglum on the top of Mount Tabor in SE Portland in 2005.
Borglum was the designer of Mount Rushmore.
The big bronze sculpture was commissioned in the 1930s by Scott’s widow and family, but is now maintained by RACC, who all agree is an agency spread thin.
Harvey Scott was editor and publisher of The Oregonian, a pioneer of sorts, and local character. His epitaph cut into the granite is “Molder of opinion / in Oregon / and the nation.”
(Actually Scott’s buried at River View Cemetery.)
This visit I notice considerable new corrosion on the bronze, streaking the figure’s face and body with lighter green threads. The corrosion is caused by acids in bird droppings and in rain, and has become pronounced, leaving the sculpture looking forgotten and dreary as it withdraws into the thick piney backdrop.
Too bad. And too bad The Oregonian hasn’t taken notice and offered to provide a the spit and polish required to make Harvey Scott look fresh and new again.
Rehabbing a big bronze would like Borglum’s would be expensive, would put a big dent in RACC’s annual fix-up budget. But the cost of a wash and careful coating with microcrystalline wax would be a trifle to The Oregonian, one of the most profitable newspapers in the nation. Total cost – $15,000, about 1/2 a page ad in Monday’s A section.
EXTRA – Tom Lehrer, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park (mp3, click link to listen)
February 20, 2008
Clackamas Cop Memorial – fundraising now
Posted by pdxart under Rip Caswell, sculptureLeave a Comment
In the December 2007 issue of the Clackamas County Peace Officers’ Association’s Union News, CCPOA president Steve Hyson writes,
The Foundation’s board has started work on several projects. We have begun work on creating a permanent law enforcement memorial here in Clackamas County. This work includes the creation of a bronze sculpture. The sculpture is being created by renowned artist Rip Caswell. Mr. Caswell has his own foundry located in Troutdale. You can preview some of Mr. Caswell’s works by visiting the foundry or its’ website at www.caswellgallery.com. I know you will find his work is of the highest quality as he is a world renowned artist. You may also see his beautiful eagle sculpture on SE Stevens Rd.
Portland Public Art has looked at Rip’s work several times – Remembering Tom McCall in Bronze, ANSWERED – Portland Public Art Quiz #2 (memorial for 9/11 first responders), Dead as a field mouse (about the aforementioned “beautiful eagle sculpture”), and Casey Eye Institute’s Exalted Ruler.
Solid bronze choice for a local sculptor of square-jawed men.
But listen, let’s not gloss over the subject of the artwork here. Art has the potential to heal rifts, mend fences, make friends of enemies. It speaks to a milder mind, a quieter spirit, a celestial understanding between humans. Right?
The Clackamas County Peace Officers’ Association represents Clackamas County Sheriff’s David Willard and Sandy Police officer William Bergin, the two officers who encountered Fouad Kaady (pictured), naked, injured and burned after a traffic accident, sitting in the middle of the road. Twenty-eight seconds later, Kaady was dead, shot seven times.
Consider the opportunity for this artwork to represent something other than suburban placidity, something other than good old boys, something other than red white and blue, or even the thin blue line.
EXTRA – 28 seconds : The Killing of Fouad Kaady
EXTRA – Background on Steve Hyson, Sheriff’s Deputy will not be prosecuted
EXTRA – Background on William Bergin, Sandy officer’s DUII arrest surfaces
Portland Public Art 