Click here to loginLoginView my BookbagMy List - 0HelpHelp
 Search 
 Search Images 
 About 
   
KeywordBrowseCombinedHighlightsSearch HistoryAll Catalogs
More Smithsonian Searches
 
 Who else has...
 
  •  
    		• Graham, Robert,
     
  •  
    		• Animal -- Reptile
     
  •  
    		• Ethnic -- Hispanic
     
  •  
    		• Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- San Jose
     
  •  
    		• Sculpture
     
     
    Plumed Serpent, (sculpture).
    Artist: 
    Graham, Robert, 1938-2008, sculptor.
    Title: 
    Plumed Serpent, (sculpture).
    Other Titles: 
    Quetzalcoatl, (sculpture).
    Dates: 
    1994. Dedicated Dec. 1994.
    Digital Reference: 
    Image Image
    Medium: 
    Concrete polymer.
    Dimensions: 
    Sculpture: approx. 8 x 9 x 8 ft.; Base: approx. Diam. 12 ft.
    Inscription: 
    (On plaque 1:) PLUMED SERPENT/ROBERT GRAHAM/1994 (On plaque 2:) PLUMED SERPENT/(QUETZALCOATL)/THE PLUMED SERPENT IS ONE OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF QUETZALCOATL, AN IMPORTANT MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE OF/THE MESOAMERICAN PANTHEON. DEPICTIONS OF QUETZALCOATL AS A PLUMED SERPENT ARE FOUND IN MESOAMERICAN/ART FROM THE OLMEC PERIOD STARTING IN 1200 BC UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF HERNAN CORTEZ AND THE SPANISH/CONQUISTADORS AND INTO THE MODERN PERIOD./QUETZALCOATL WHEN DEPICTED AS THE PLUMED SERPENT, SYMBOLIZED THE BLENDING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH./QUETZALCOATL IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE PLANET VENUS, THE WIND AND BREATH OF LIFE, THE DISCOVERY OF CORN,/THE INVENTION OF WRITING AND THE ARTS, BIRTH AND RENEWAL./QUETZALCOATL IS DERIVED FROM QUETZAL MEANING FEATHER AND COA-TL MEANING SNAKE. unsigned
    Description: 
    Sculpture in the round of a three-tiered coiled serpent with plumes. Open mouth shows sharp pointed teeth and a pointed tongue.
    Subject: 
    Animal -- Reptile -- Snake
    Ethnic -- Hispanic
    Object Type: 
    Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- San Jose
    Sculpture
    Owner: 
    Administered by City of San Jose, Office of Cultural Affairs, 291 South Market Street, San Jose, California 95113
    Located Market & San Carlos, San Jose, California
    Remarks: 
    Commissioned by the city of San Jose to honor the culture of its Latino citizens, for $500,000. Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec deity who symbolizes fertility and order. The sculpture created controversy at the time of its installation, because some citizens found it objectionable in religious, economic and aesthetic terms. IAS files include a related article from the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 27, 1994.
    References: 
    Save Outdoor Sculpture, California survey, 1994.
    Illustration: 
    Image on file.
    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 CA000563
    Add to my list 
    Copy/Holding information
    Smithsonian AmericanArt MuseumControl Number 
    Inventory of American SculptureCA000563Add Copy to MyList

    Format:HTMLPlain textDelimited
    Subject: 
    Email to:


    Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382
     Powered by SirsiDynix
    About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact
    SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System