Login
My List - 0
Help
Search
Search Images
About
Keyword
Browse
Combined
Highlights
Search History
All Catalogs
Search:
Artist Browse
Title Browse
Subject Browse
Object Type Browse
Owner Browse
Refine Search
Return to results
> You are only searching:
Art Inventories
More Smithsonian Searches
Who else has...
Severson, William Conrad,
Schultz, Saunders,
Scopia Studios,
Abstract -- Geometric
Kinetic
Fountain
Outdoor Sculpture -- Missouri -- Clayton
Sculpture
Primogenesis, (
sculpture
).
Artist:
Severson, William Conrad, 1924-1999 , sculptor.
Schultz, Saunders, 1927-2017, sculptor.
Scopia Studios, fabricator.
Title:
Primogenesis, (
sculpture
).
Dates:
Copyrighted 1981. Dedicated Sept. 27, 1981.
Digital Reference:
Medium:
Sculpture
: stainless steel and solar cells; Base: galvanized iron.
Dimensions:
Sculpture
: approx. 25 x 25 x 25 ft.
Inscription:
unsigned
Description:
"This 25 ft. stainless steel
sculpture
has at its center two round stainless steel panels, which are covered with 36 thin, silicon-coated disks capable of converting the sun's rays into electricity, which turns the
sculpture
. Stainless steel spokes radiate from the center to a stainless steel, curved rim." The sunlight collected from the silicon-coated disks powers a motor in the
sculpture
's base, causing the
sculpture
to rotate approximately 1 1/2 times every 2 hours in full sunlight. The
sculpture
is located in the center of a reflecting pool.
Subject:
Abstract
--
Geometric
Object Type:
Kinetic
Fountain
Outdoor
Sculpture
--
Missouri
--
Clayton
Sculpture
Owner:
Administered by St. Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis,
Missouri
63110
Located Oak Knoll Park,
Clayton
Road & Big Bend,
Clayton
,
Missouri
63105
Remarks:
Sculptors William Conrad Severson and Saunders Schultz collaborated on this
sculpture
, which was fabricated in the studio they founded, Scopia Studios. IAS files contain a copy of a magazine article from American Way (Aug. 1982), in which the technology of this kinetic
sculpture
is discussed. The article also discusses the meaning of the name of the
sculpture
: "Severson named the work Primogenesis, which translates 'first origins,' because it is powered by the sun, the origin of all energy."
IAS files also contain a copy of a photograph and its caption, from an unidentified source; according to the caption, this
sculpture
was dedicated Sept. 27, 1981 in memory of Marguerite D. Yates (d. 1980), long-time assistant director of the St. Louis Museum of Science and Natural History. For related article see: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept. 25, 1981.
References:
Save
Outdoor
Sculpture
,
Missouri
, St. Louis survey, 1992.
McCue, George, "
Sculpture
City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1988, pg. 138.
Schlegel, Ronald J., "Sun
Sculpture
," American Way (Aug. 1992): pg. 4.
Schultz, Saunders, 2002.
Illustration:
Image on file.
McCue, George, "
Sculpture
City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1988, pg. 138.
Note:
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.
Repository:
Inventories of American Painting and
Sculpture
, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Control Number:
IAS 87810033
Copy/Holding information
Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum
Control Number
Inventory of American Sculpture
87810033
Add Copy to MyList
Format:
HTML
Plain text
Delimited
Subject:
Email to:
Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382
About
| © 2020 Smithsonian |
Terms of Use
|
Privacy
|
Contact