Topiary Garden; A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, (sculpture).

Topiary Garden; A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, (sculpture).

Mason, Jim, sculptor.

Topiary Garden; A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, (sculpture).

Deaf School Park, Topiary Garden, (sculpture).

Dedicated June 13, 1992.

Yew shrubbery on bronze frames.

65 parts. Tallest figure: approx. H. 12 ft.

A topiary sculpture depicting George Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." The topiary ensemble contains eight boats, three dogs, a monkey, and fifty four figures. The figures are made out of yew pruned over a bronze armature.

Homage -- Seurat, George

Landscape -- France -- Paris

Animal -- Monkey

Architecture -- Boat

Outdoor Sculpture -- Ohio -- Columbus

Administered by City of Columbus, Recreation and Parks Department, 90 West Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215

Located Deaf School Park, Town Street & Washington Avenue, Columbus, Ohio

The bronze armatures were welded by Jim Mason and the yew shrubs were trained by the artist's wife, Elaine Mason. The piece is a depiction of Georges Seurat's painting titled "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." The work was commissioned as part of the 1992 Quincentenary project of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. Funding from Motorists Insurance Companies, the Town Franklin Neighborhood Association, the Columbus Foundation, and matching Recreation and Parks monies paid for the park reinstallation. See IAS files for a pamphlet on the sculpture produced by the Columbus Recreation & Parks Department. The park where the work is sited was formerly the site of the old Deaf School, built in 1888 by George Bellows Sr. When the school burned in 1980, the land was given to the city. The idea of the topiary project was initiated in 1989 by Recreation and Parks Director James W. Barney.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Ohio, Columbus survey, 1992.

The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH), June 13, 1992.

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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