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Putnam Collection of Sculpture, Princeton University

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The John B. Putnam, Jr. Memorial Collection of Sculpture is a group of outdoor sculptures distributed through the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The collection is made up of works from 20th and 21st century sculptors.[1] In March 1968, President Robert Goheen announced that an anonymous donor gave a $1 million fund for the collection in honor of Princeton alumni John B. Putnam, Jr., Lieutenant U.S.A, who was killed in action during World War II.[2][3] The works were selected based on a committee of alumni who current or former directors of art museums,[3] and the first 20 were purchased in 1969 and 1970.[4]

The collection was first designed to have only 20 sculptures,[4] but after receiving George Segal's Abraham and Issac, in 1979, the total catalogue increased to 21.[5] The Princeton University Art Museum describes the collection as "not a static phenomenon" and that "work is underway to identify and purchase or commission works by artists."[1]

List of sculptures

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Original twenty

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The following is the twenty original sculptures before later ones were added.[4]

Name of Piece Artist Executed Installed Material Location Image References
Atmosphere and Environment X Louise Nevelson 1969–1970 1971 Cor-Ten steel Between Nassau Street and Firestone Library
[6][7]
Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension Antoine Pevsner 1961–1962 1972 Cast bronze Courtyard of Jadwin Hall [8][9]
Cubi XIII David Smith 1963 1969 Stainless steel Between McCormick Hall and Whig Hall
[10][11]
Five Disks: One Empty Alexander Calder 1969–1970 1971 Painted mild steel Fine Hall Plaza [12][13]
Floating Figure Gaston Lachaise 1927 1969 Cast bronze Compton Court, Graduate College
[14][15]
Head of a Woman Designed by Pablo Picasso; executed by Carl Nesjar 1971[a] 1971 Cast concrete, granite, and quartzite Located on the lawn between Spelman Halls and New South Building
[16][17]
Marok-Marok-Miosa Eduardo Paolozzi 1965 1969 Welded aluminum Stairwell of the Architecture Building [18][19]
Mastodon VI Michael Hall 1968 1969 Bronze and aluminum Courtyard of MacMillan Building [20][21]
Moses Tony Smith 1967–1968 1969[b] Painted mild steel Lawn in front of Prospect House
[22][23]
Northwood II Kenneth Snelson 1970 1973 Stainless steel East Dormitory Courtyard of the Graduate College [24][25]
Oval with Points Henry Moore 1969–70 1971 Bronze Between Stanhope Hall and Morrison Hall [26][27]
Professor Albert Einstein Sir Jacob Epstein 1933 1970 Cast bronze Fine Hall Library [28][29]
Song of the Vowels Jacques Lipchitz 1969[c] 1969 Cast bronze Between Firestone Library and the University Chapel [30][31]
Sphere VI Arnaldo Pomodoro 1966 1969 Polished bronze Entrance of Fine Hall Library[d] [32][33]
Spheric Theme Naum Gabo 1973–1974 1974 Stainless steel Courtyard of the Engineering Quadrangle [34][35]
Stone Riddle Masayuki Nagare 1967 1972 Black granite Courtyard of Engineering Quadrangle [36][37]
The Bride Reg Butler 1956–1961 1970 Cast bronze Courtyard of Rockefeller College [38][39]
Two Planes Vertical Horizontal II George Rickey 1970 1972 Stainless steel Between East Pyne Hall and the University Chapel [40][41]
Upstart II Clement Meadmore 1970 1973 Cor-Ten steel Entrance to the Engineering Quadrangle [42][43]
White Sun Isamu Noguchi 1966 1970 Saravezza marble Lobby of Firestone Library [44][45]

Official additions

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Once the initial collection was finished, the university received George Segal's Abraham and Issac as a gift in 1979.[5] The piece was commissioned for Kent State University in memorial of the 1970 Kent State shootings, but it was deemed too provocative.[46][47] Segal subsequently donated it to Princeton as it was where he taught sculpture,[47] and it was installed in 1979.[48] The university would continue to receive additional sculptures through purchasing, continued support by the Putnam family through the Mildred Andrews Fund, or as gifts from artists; however, only Segal's work was included in the collection.[5]

Name of Piece Artist Executed Installed Material Location Image References
Abraham and Isaac: In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State University George Segal 1978–1979 1979 Cast bronze Between Firestone Library and the University Chapel [48][49][3]

Unofficial additions

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The Princeton University Art Museum classifies several other pieces of artwork as falling under either the collection, although no reference to them as official additions can be found.[e] Additionally, while the art museum's map on the Putnam Collection labels Scott Burton's Public Table as part of the collection,[50][f] no official publication nor the listing on the art museum's website considers it an official component.[51][52]

Name of Piece Artist Executed Installed Material Location Image References
Einstein's Table Maya Lin 2019 2019 Jet Mist Granite Lewis Arts Complex [53][54]
The Princeton Line Maya Lin 2018 2018 Earth drawing Lewis Arts Complex [55][54]
URODA Ursula von Rydingsvard 2015 2015 Copper, steel, bronze Entrance to the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment [56]

Putnam funding

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Several works on campus, while not part of the collection, have received funding from either the Mildred Andrews Fund, like Scott Burton's Public Table,[52] or the John B. Putnam Jr. Memorial Fund, like Doug and Mike Starn's (Any) Body Oddly Propped.[57]

Notes

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  1. ^ Designed in 1962
  2. ^ The piece was fabricated and installed during the same year.
  3. ^ Designed in 1931–1932
  4. ^ Previously located at the courtyard formed by Lourie-Love Hall and 1922, 1940, 1941, and 1942 dormitories
  5. ^ More specifically, with the most recent literature on the collection being published before the latest additions, it is unclear if the pieces are a part of the official catalogue.
  6. ^ The map also includes Maya Lin's Einstein's Table and The Princeton Line, while forgetting Sir Jacob Epstein's Professor Albert Einstein, David Smith's Cubi XIII, and Michael Hall's Mastodon VI.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Campus Collections". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 12.
  3. ^ a b c Kiefer-Roulet, Evelyn (September 1, 2008). "The John and Mildred Putnam Sculpture Collection Patronage and the Role of a Campus Sculpture Collection". Collections. 4 (3): 266. doi:10.1177/155019060800400307. ISSN 1550-1906.
  4. ^ a b c Leitch 1978, p. 397–398.
  5. ^ a b c Kelleher 1982, p. 8.
  6. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 76.
  7. ^ "Atmosphere and Environment X (y1969-18)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  8. ^ "Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension (y1969-130)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  9. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 88.
  10. ^ "Cubi XIII (y1969-19)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  11. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 108.
  12. ^ "Five Disks: One Empty (y1969-126)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  13. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 40.
  14. ^ "Floating Figure (y1969-72)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 56.
  16. ^ "Head of a Woman (y1969-131)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 92–93.
  18. ^ "Marok-Marok-Miosa (y1969-21)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  19. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 84.
  20. ^ "Mastodon VI (y1969-81)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  21. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 52.
  22. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 112.
  23. ^ "Moses (y1969-104)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  24. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 116.
  25. ^ "Northwood II (y1969-16)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  26. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 68.
  27. ^ "Oval with Points (y1969-128)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  28. ^ "Professor Albert Einstein (y1970-115)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  29. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 44.
  30. ^ "Song of the Vowels (y1969-22)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  31. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 60.
  32. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 96.
  33. ^ "Sphere VI (y1969-20)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  34. ^ "Spheric Theme (y1974-85)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  35. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 48.
  36. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 72.
  37. ^ "Stone Riddle (y1972-41)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  38. ^ "The Bride (y1969-127)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  39. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 36.
  40. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 100.
  41. ^ "Two Planes Vertical Horizontal II (y1972-42)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  42. ^ "Upstart II (y1971-13)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  43. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 64.
  44. ^ "White Sun (y1969-129)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  45. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 80.
  46. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 104–105.
  47. ^ a b Burgess, Daniel (November 20, 2019). "Art in the bubble: 'Abraham and Isaac'". The Daily Princetonian. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  48. ^ a b Kelleher 1982, p. 104.
  49. ^ "Abraham and Isaac: In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State University (y1978-49)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  50. ^ "Putnam Collection". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  51. ^ Kelleher 1982, p. 35.
  52. ^ a b "Public Table". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  53. ^ "Einstein's Table (2019-238)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  54. ^ a b Spike, Carlett (December 4, 2019). "On the Campus: Maya Lin's 'The Princeton Line' and 'Einstein's Table'". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  55. ^ "The Princeton Line (2018-88)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  56. ^ "URODA (2015-6739)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  57. ^ "(Any) Body Oddly Propped (2015-6737)". Princeton University Art Museum. Princeton University. Retrieved July 27, 2021.

Bibliography

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Works cited

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