Expanding Universe, (sculpture).

Expanding Universe, (sculpture).

Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998, sculptor.

Modern Art Foundry, founder.

Harley-Probst Associates, architectural firm.

Harley, Ellington, and Day, architectural firm.

Andersen, Probst and White, architectural firm.

Expanding Universe, (sculpture).

Commissioned 1956. Contracted Oct. 1958. Modeled 1958-1960. Installed June 1963.

Digital Reference:

Cast bronze, nickel alloy, glass mosaic and granite.

A colossal bronze male figure crouching on a ten-foot diameter bronze sphere. In his outstretched hands, the figure holds two planets which he is hurling into space. His hair is studded with multi-pointed stars. and the sphere is decorated with 1166 nickel-silver stars in five different magnitudes arranged in the pattern of the principal constellations of the celestial systems. A 67-foot long polished nickel-silver orbit form spirals around the sphere. It is cantilevered from the floor of the fountain which is covered with multi-colored glass mosaic tiles whose tone and color change from light to dark blue-green in a pattern that echoes the spiral orbit.

Allegory -- Place -- Extraterrestrial

Administered by United States General Services Administration, Washington, District of Columbia

Located United States State Department, Foreign Service Court, south courtyard, Washington, District of Columbia

In 1956, the General Services Administration (GSA) selected Frederichs to devise an overall decorative program for the extension of the State Department Building. Budget constraints prevented the implementation of planned decorative components other than this fountain, designed by Federicks between 1953 and 1968. In Oct. 1958, Fredericks contracted with GSA to provide the design and models for the fountain for a fee of $35,000. By Nov. 1961, the models were delivered to the Modern Art Foundry in New York for casting. By 1963, the foundry had cast and installed the sculptural elements for $67,500. In 1995, the sculpture underwent conservation by McKay Lodge, Inc., and the fountain and basin were redesigned and rehabilitated by Professional Restoration Incorporated. IAS files contain brochure giving detailed history of the fountain and its conservation, produced in conjunction with exhibition organized by Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Gallery at Saginaw Valley State University, 1996.

United States General Services Administration, 1988.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 474.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 474, M-29.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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