The John B. Putnam, Jr. Memorial Collection of Sculpture is a group of outdoor sculptures distributed through the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The collection is made up of works from 20th and 21st century sculptors.[1] In March 1968, President Robert Goheen announced that an anonymous donor gave a $1 million fund for the collection in honor of Princeton alumni John B. Putnam, Jr., Lieutenant U.S.A, who was killed in action during World War II.[2][3] The works were selected based on a committee of alumni who current or former directors of art museums,[3] and the first 20 were purchased in 1969 and 1970.[4]

The collection was first designed to have only 20 sculptures,[4] but after receiving George Segal's Abraham and Issac, in 1979, the total catalogue increased to 21.[5] The Princeton University Art Museum describes the collection as "not a static phenomenon" and that "work is underway to identify and purchase or commission works by artists."[1]

List of sculptures

Original twenty

The following is the twenty original sculptures before later ones were added.[4]

Name of Piece Artist Executed Installed Material Location Image References
Atmosphere and Environment X Louise Nevelson 1969–1970 1971 Cor-Ten steel Between Nassau Street and Firestone Library
[6][7]
Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension Antoine Pevsner 1961–1962 1972 Cast bronze Courtyard of Jadwin Hall [8][9]
Cubi XIII David Smith 1963 1969 Stainless steel Between McCormick Hall and Whig Hall
[10][11]
Five Disks: One Empty Alexander Calder 1969–1970 1971 Painted mild steel Fine Hall Plaza [12][13]
Floating Figure Gaston Lachaise 1927 1969 Cast bronze Compton Court, Graduate College
[14][15]
Head of a Woman Designed by Pablo Picasso; executed by Carl Nesjar 1971[a] 1971 Cast concrete, granite, and quartzite Located on the lawn between Spelman Halls and New South Building
[16][17]
Marok-Marok-Miosa Eduardo Paolozzi 1965 1969 Welded aluminum Stairwell of the Architecture Building [18][19]
Mastodon VI Michael Hall 1968 1969 Bronze and aluminum Courtyard of MacMillan Building [20][21]
Moses Tony Smith 1967–1968 1969[b] Painted mild steel Lawn in front of Prospect House
[22][23]
Northwood II Kenneth Snelson 1970 1973 Stainless steel East Dormitory Courtyard of the Graduate College [24][25]
Oval with Points Henry Moore 1969–70 1971 Bronze Between Stanhope Hall and Morrison Hall [26][27]
Professor Albert Einstein Sir Jacob Epstein 1933 1970 Cast bronze Fine Hall Library [28][29]
Song of the Vowels Jacques Lipchitz 1969[c] 1969 Cast bronze Between Firestone Library and the University Chapel [30][31]
Sphere VI Arnaldo Pomodoro 1966 1969 Polished bronze Entrance of Fine Hall Library[d] [32][33]
Spheric Theme Naum Gabo 1973–1974 1974 Stainless steel Courtyard of the Engineering Quadrangle [34][35]
Stone Riddle Masayuki Nagare 1967 1972 Black granite Courtyard of Engineering Quadrangle [36][37]
The Bride Reg Butler 1956–1961 1970 Cast bronze Courtyard of Rockefeller College [38][39]
Two Planes Vertical Horizontal II George Rickey 1970 1972 Stainless steel Between East Pyne Hall and the University Chapel [40][41]
Upstart II Clement Meadmore 1970 1973 Cor-Ten steel Entrance to the Engineering Quadrangle [42][43]
White Sun Isamu Noguchi 1966 1970 Saravezza marble Lobby of Firestone Library [44][45]

Official additions

Once the initial collection was finished, the university received George Segal's Abraham and Issac as a gift in 1979.[5] The piece was commissioned for Kent State University in memorial of the 1970 Kent State shootings , but it was deemed too provocative.[46][47] Segal subsequently donated it to Princeton as it was where he taught sculpture,[47] and it was installed in 1979.[48] The university would continue to receive additional sculptures through purchasing, continued support by the Putnam family through the Mildred Andrews Fund, or as gifts from artists; however, only Segal's work was included in the collection.[5]

Name of Piece Artist Executed Installed Material Location Image References
Abraham and Isaac: In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State University George Segal 1978–1979 1979 Cast bronze Between Firestone Library and the University Chapel [48][49][3]

Unofficial additions

The Princeton University Art Museum classifies several other pieces of artwork as falling under either the collection, although no reference to them as official additions can be found.[e] Additionally, while the art museum's map on the Putnam Collection labels Scott Burton's Public Table as part of the collection,[50][f] no official publication nor the listing on the art museum's website considers it an official component.[51][52]

Name of Piece Artist Executed Installed Material Location Image References
Einstein's Table Maya Lin 2019 2019 Jet Mist Granite Lewis Arts Complex [53][54]
The Princeton Line Maya Lin 2018 2018 Earth drawing Lewis Arts Complex [55][54]
URODA Ursula von Rydingsvard 2015 2015 Copper, steel, bronze Entrance to the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment [56]

Putnam funding

Several works on campus, while not part of the collection, have received funding from either the Mildred Andrews Fund, like Scott Burton's Public Table,[52] or the John B. Putnam Jr. Memorial Fund, like Doug and Mike Starn's (Any) Body Oddly Propped.[57]

Notes

  1. ^ Designed in 1962
  2. ^ The piece was fabricated and installed during the same year.
  3. ^ Designed in 1931–1932
  4. ^ Previously located at the courtyard formed by Lourie-Love Hall and 1922, 1940, 1941, and 1942 dormitories
  5. ^ More specifically, with the most recent literature on the collection being published before the latest additions, it is unclear if the pieces are a part of the official catalogue.
  6. ^ The map also includes Maya Lin's Einstein's Table and The Princeton Line, while forgetting Sir Jacob Epstein's Professor Albert Einstein, David Smith's Cubi XIII, and Michael Hall's Mastodon VI.

References

  1. ^ a b "Campus Collections". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 12.
  3. ^ a b c Kiefer-Roulet, Evelyn (September 1, 2008). "The John and Mildred Putnam Sculpture Collection Patronage and the Role of a Campus Sculpture Collection". Collections. 4 (3): 266. doi:10.1177/155019060800400307. ISSN 1550-1906.
  4. ^ a b c Leitch 1978, p. 397–398.
  5. ^ a b c Kelleher 1982, p. 8.
  6. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 76.
  7. ^ "Atmosphere and Environment X (y1969-18)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  8. ^ "Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension (y1969-130)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  9. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 88.
  10. ^ "Cubi XIII (y1969-19)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  11. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 108.
  12. ^ "Five Disks: One Empty (y1969-126)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  13. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 40.
  14. ^ "Floating Figure (y1969-72)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 56.
  16. ^ "Head of a Woman (y1969-131)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 92–93.
  18. ^ "Marok-Marok-Miosa (y1969-21)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  19. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 84.
  20. ^ "Mastodon VI (y1969-81)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  21. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 52.
  22. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 112.
  23. ^ "Moses (y1969-104)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  24. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 116.
  25. ^ "Northwood II (y1969-16)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  26. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 68.
  27. ^ "Oval with Points (y1969-128)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  28. ^ "Professor Albert Einstein (y1970-115)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  29. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 44.
  30. ^ "Song of the Vowels (y1969-22)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  31. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 60.
  32. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 96.
  33. ^ "Sphere VI (y1969-20)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  34. ^ "Spheric Theme (y1974-85)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  35. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 48.
  36. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 72.
  37. ^ "Stone Riddle (y1972-41)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  38. ^ "The Bride (y1969-127)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  39. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 36.
  40. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 100.
  41. ^ "Two Planes Vertical Horizontal II (y1972-42)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  42. ^ "Upstart II (y1971-13)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  43. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 64.
  44. ^ "White Sun (y1969-129)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  45. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 80.
  46. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 104–105.
  47. ^ a b Burgess, Daniel (November 20, 2019). "Art in the bubble: 'Abraham and Isaac'". The Daily Princetonian. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  48. ^ a b Kelleher 1982, p. 104.
  49. ^ "Abraham and Isaac: In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State University (y1978-49)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  50. ^ "Putnam Collection". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  51. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 35.
  52. ^ a b "Public Table". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  53. ^ "Einstein's Table (2019-238)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  54. ^ a b Spike, Carlett (December 4, 2019). "On the Campus: Maya Lin's 'The Princeton Line' and 'Einstein's Table'". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  55. ^ "The Princeton Line (2018-88)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  56. ^ "URODA (2015-6739)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  57. ^ "(Any) Body Oddly Propped (2015-6737)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 27, 2021.

Bibliography

Works cited

External links

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