5
Leonard Baskin
Outdoor Sculpture
on Campus
Bronze
Anonymous Gift
SCMA Collection: SC1963:36
Walking Tour
(American, 1922 - 2000)
The Owl, 1962
This bronze sculpture is a larger-than-life portrayal of an owl, a
creature of the night, known for its fabled wisdom. The owl’s
outstretched wings look as though it has either just landed or is about
to take flight. Its protruding head, bulging eyes, and sharp beak and
claws contribute to an ominous sense. Those who pass by on the paths
beside the owl’s stone perch may become the subject of its stare.
The artist, Leonard Baskin, was a professor of art at Smith College
from 1953-73. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, Baskin explored
in many of his works the concept of “man’s inhumanity to man.”
He developed an interest in portraying carnivorous birds of the
air such as owls and raptors, and made many representations of
them in his prints, drawings, and sculptures. Baskin related these
predatory birds to mankind, saying that the soaring aspirations of
man are inherently wedded to a fierce determination to devour one
another. “The owl,” Baskin wrote, “is perhaps the most complex and
mysterious [of predatory birds]. He kills in hallucinatory silence, and
ambiguously symbolizes wisdom and tyranny.” An anonymous donor
commissioned this sculpture in 1961. It was displayed in this grassy
triangle until 1978 when it was placed in storage during the Neilson
Library expansion. The Owl was reinstalled here in 1990 by the Class
of 1965, who chose the plaque’s inscription from Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer-Night’s Dream:
“The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots,
And wonders
At our quaint spirits.”
6
Elliot Offner
(American, 1931- 2010)
Great Blue Heron, 1987
Bronze
Given by Dorothy Walton Mooney ‘49, Salome
Edgeworth Walton ‘54, Lucy Walton Mooney
‘85, and Katherine Walton Day ‘81
Smith College Collection
Great Blue Heron is one of many sculptures produced by the prolific
artist and Smith College professor emeritus, Elliot Offner. Particularly
noted for his expertise in bronze casting, Offner found his inspiration
in nature and created many sculptures inspired by real encounters
with wildlife. Although bronze has been traditionally associated with
large-scale public works, the artist used this strong material for a small,
delicate subject, immortalizing the graceful creature here in its natural
environment.
The heron stands in a small pond next to the Lyman Plant House. With
outstretched wings and upturned head, it appears to be on the verge
of taking flight. Offner would tell of how often people recounted
their observations of the bird to him including live herons alighting
on the bronze heron’s wing. “Of all the public sculptures I have ever
done,” Offner said, “none has brought as many warm thoughts as
the heron….”
© 2004 Smith College Museum of Art
Text and Photos 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 by Julie Zappia
Photo 4: Stephen Petegorsky
Smith College Museum of Art
Northampton, MA 01063
(413) 585-2760
www.smith.edu/artmuseum
1
(See Map Inside)
Jean Gautherin (French, 1840 - 90)
Female figure for the Lanning Fountain
Bronze
Gift from the Lanning family in memory of their
daughter, Mary Tomlinson Lanning ‘12
SCMA Collection: SC1911:1-1
Multiple paths converge on a circular stone walkway surrounding this
sculpted fountain. The figure of a young girl, cast in bronze, places her
right hand in a small fountain from which water trickles down into a
large, circular concrete basin. The fountain fits seamlessly into its site;
the neighboring trees and landscaping provide a peaceful frame for the
girl. She was placed facing toward Burton Lawn, thus giving her the
opportunity to be addressed by students on their way to class.
The American Art Bronze Foundry of Chicago cast the figure of the
girl after a model by the French sculptor Jean Gautherin. The fountain,
a gift from the Lanning family, was erected at Smith in 1912. Mary
Tomlinson Lanning was in her second year at Smith in 1910 when she
became ill and died. Although born into wealth, Mary chose to attend
college in hopes of a career in social service. This tranquil spot on
campus is her family’s legacy. The fountain is appropriately inscribed:
“In Memory of a Beautiful Life.”
3
Paradise
Pond
eet
Str
Elm ute 9
Ro
Lyman
Plant
House
6
1
5
2
3
Gre
en
1
2
3
John M. Greene Hall
Ne
il
Lib son
rar
y
Co
lle
ge
La
ne
Campus
Center
4
Smith College
Museum of Art
Stre
et
Lanning Fountain
4
George Rickey, Four Lines
Grace Knowlton,
Three Forms from
the Brooklin Series
5
Leonard Baskin, The Owl
Stephen Antonakos,
Once, Again
6
Elliot Offner, Great Blue
Heron
Oblique Gyratory Rhombus
Stephen Antonakos
(Greek-American, 1926 - )
Once, Again, 2001
Neon light installation
Commissioned by Smith College
Smith College Collection
This neon light installation was created by Stephen Antonakos, a GreekAmerican artist whose daughter, Evangelia, graduated from Smith in
1997. Antonakos, known for his light sculptures displayed in public
spaces and museum installations around the world, was featured in a
1997 exhibition called Inner Light held at the Smith College Museum
of Art. Mary Maples Dunn, then President of Smith College, suggested
the commissioning of this artwork as a way to enliven the otherwise
dark and uninviting passageway located between Neilson Library and
the Alumnae Gymnasium.
The design formed by the glowing lines is spare, yet elegant. This style
contrasts with the flashiness usually associated with commercial neon
signs. When approaching the tunnel from the upper campus, one can
see how the neon tubes are reflected in the windows at the head of
the tunnel, creating various patterns of light. Antonakos wished for
the tubes to be illuminated continuously, stating that the changing
intensity of the light during different weather conditions would
diversify the viewer’s experience of the piece: “The people who live
and work there will see a change throughout the hours. At night
the tubes themselves will be very bright, but then in the morning and
during the day, the neon recedes slightly, and reflections on the metal
raceways become the emphasis, and it goes through these cycles.”
2
4
Grace Knowlton
George Rickey
Welded and patinated copper
Part purchase with a gift of funds from the
members of the Class of 1954 and part gift
from the artist (Grace Farrar Knowlton ‘54)
SCMA Collection: SC1994:10-3
Stainless Steel
Gift of the Robert H. and Ryda H.
(Ryda Hecht ‘37) Levi Foundation, Inc.
SCMA Collection: SC1988:53
(American, 1932 - )
Three Forms from the Brooklin
Series, 1991
While one might find it odd to see three large boulders at rest on
campus, one might find it stranger still to approach those boulders and
discover that they are actually sheets of copper that have been welded
together. Even more surprising is the smoothness of their powdery
metal surfaces, and the small openings in the “seams” that reveal the
empty space inside. The artist, a Smith alumna, meant for viewers to
have to revise their expectations of what a “boulder” is.
Named for the town in Maine where they were constructed, the
Brooklin Series forms are nestled near some trees behind Neilson
Library, at the upper end of a large lawn. The three “boulders” are
placed in a diagonal line and appear to change their spacing relative
to each other as the viewer changes position, for example, by walking
from Bass Hall toward the tunnel between Neilson Library and the
Office of Public Safety. These boulders also react to changes in the
weather - their surfaces appear powdery when dry and muddy after a
rain, and the patina (or chemical coating) changes color over time.
(American, 1907 - 2002)
Four Lines Oblique Gyratory
Rhombus, 1972
Although George Rickey did not mean for this sculpture to represent
any specific organic form, he has said that the piece responds to the
wind the way that its neighboring trees do, moving and changing with
the breeze. The stainless steel Y-shaped post has four rotating blades
at the top that are balanced and counterbalanced. The blades “gyrate”
when activated by air currents, creating random geometrical shapes.
The piece is an example of kinetic sculpture, i.e., three-dimensional
art that moves in space. George Rickey was one of the foremost
practitioners of kinetic sculpture in the U.S. The grandson of a
clockmaker and son of a mechanical engineer, Rickey began creating
kinetic artwork in the mid-20th century. This piece was created in 1972,
then purchased and donated to Smith by the Robert H. and Ryda H.
Levi Foundation, Inc. The sculpture was installed and dedicated at this
site in 1993.