Riches of the Earth: Wealth of the Earth, (sculpture).

Riches of the Earth: Wealth of the Earth, (sculpture).

Calder, Alexander Stirling, 1870-1945, sculptor.

Donovan, John J., 1875-1949, architect.

Hornbostel, Henry, architect.

Mathews, Walter J., d. 1947, architect.

Couchot, Maurice C., d. 1933, engineer.

N. Clark & Sons, contractor.

Riches of the Earth: Wealth of the Earth, (sculpture).

Wealth of the Earth, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

White glazed terra cotta.

Approx. 60 x 25 x 18 ft.

(On panel on proper right:) THE/DELIGHT/OF/FLOWERS (On center panel:) WEALTH OF THE EARTH (On proper left panel:) THE/SOURCE/OF/FOOD

Three large-scale glazed terra cotta relief panels set in a niche on the side of a building. At the top of the panel on the left is a nude full-length figure of a young boy. He stands, legs apart, facing forward with his arms bent and hands near his chin. He is surrounded by a garland of foliage and flowers. Seated near the bottom of the panel is a nude female. Her back is turned, her legs crossed. Her arms are raised in front of her and her hands are entwined in the top of a garland which surrounds her.

In the center panel stands a full-length nude female. On her head are a pair of horns. Her hands and arms are raised and intermingle with leaves from a tree. She is draped from the waist down with a cloth. On the woman's proper right a panther crouches, facing center. On the woman's proper left, an ox is lying down, facing forward. The background of the panel is full of leaves, branches and fruit on a tree.

At the top of the panel on the right is a nude female figure. She is seated; her back is turned and her legs crossed. At the bottom of the panel, a nude male kneels on his proper left knee; his proper right knee is raised. His arms reach down and rest on ornamentation at the base of the niche.

Figure male -- Full length

Figure female -- Full length

Figure -- Child -- Full length

Allegory -- Quality -- Wealth

Animal -- Cattle

Animal -- Panther

Object -- Flower

Object -- Foliage

Object -- Fruit

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Oakland

Architectural component

Administered by City of Oakland, 1421 Washington Street, Room 409, Oakland, California 94612

Located Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, 10 Tenth Street, Oakland, California

Formerly located Oakland Auditorium, 10 Tenth Street, Oakland, California 1915-1982.

One of a series of seven niches entitled "Riches of the Earth" along the north wall of the Oakland Auditorium. The auditorium was renamed the Kaiser Convention Center in the 1980's. Terra cotta for the niches was supplied by N. Clark & Son. Donovan was architect for the building and Hornbostel was consulting architect. Donovan was later replaced as supervising architect by Mathews. Couchot was engineer for the building project. Dates given are construction dates for the building. Final cost of the building including sculpture was $978,052. IAS files contain copy of related State of California Historic Resources Inventory and copy of related article from Oakland Tribune, Jan. 29, 1961.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California survey, 1994.

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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