Constantin Meunier and Le Marteleur

Among the public outdoor sculptures on campus that were recently cleaned, conserved, and rewaxed was the figure you see here, shining in the summer sunlight outside the Engineering building: Le Marteleur (The Hammerman or Hammersmith). This sculpture is by the Belgian artist Constantin Meunier (1831-1905), who became famous in his day for figures that idealized […]

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Conservation Video Summer 2018

Columbia’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs has released this new video documenting some of the recent conservation work that took place on campus this summer. Stay tuned for more photos and information about some of the sculptures recently conserved on campus. […]

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Conservation Summer 2018

Art Properties, Avery Library, and Columbia Facilities is pleased to be working with Conservation Solutions/EverGreene Architectural Arts Inc. for the cleaning and conservation of a few public outdoor sculptures on the Morningside campus in July 2018. The most important work on campus that will be affected by this short-term project will be Alma Mater. Other […]

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Project from Spring 2017: Greg Wyatt, Scholars’ Lion

The following post was written by Juan Alvarez, a student in the “Public Outdoor Sculpture at Columbia and Barnard” undergraduate seminar in Spring 2017. This excerpt from his research paper discusses Columbia’s famous lion mascot and the sculpture of the lion near the entrance to the Dodge Fitness Center, installed on campus in 2004. Greg […]

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Project from Spring 2017: Auguste Rodin, The Thinker

The following post was written by Tanya Moe, a student in the “Public Outdoor Sculpture at Columbia and Barnard” undergraduate seminar in Spring 2017. This excerpt from her research paper discusses what is arguably Columbia’s most easily identifiable public sculpture on campus and how it came to be installed outside Philosophy Hall in 1931.   […]

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Projects from Spring 2017: Kees Verkade, Tightrope Walker

During the Spring 2017 semester, Prof. Robert Harrist and Curator Roberto C. Ferrari co-taught an undergraduate seminar entitled “Public Outdoor Sculpture at Columbia and Barnard.” The idea for the course was inspired by the recent acquisition of Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure, and the subsequent controversy which followed its proposed installation. Reinforcing the educational mission of […]

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Henry Moore, Reclining Figure, 1969-70

It’s been nine months since Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure, 1969-70, was installed on the Morningside campus on the lawn outside Havemeyer and Mathematics Halls. The response has been so positive since the installation last December. The statue’s new home in a green space likely would have pleased Moore, who preferred that his sculpture was viewed […]

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New Public Outdoor Sculpture by Henry Moore…Coming Soon!

Columbia University is honored to be the recipient of a significant donation of a public outdoor sculpture by Henry Moore (1898-1986), one of the most important British sculptors of the twentieth century. Preparation for the installation of Reclining Figure, which measures approximately 9 x 11 x 7 feet and is cast in bronze, will begin this […]

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Meadmore’s Curl…Conservation Complete

Anyone walking past Uris Hall these days will now notice that Clement Meadmore’s sculpture The Curl is looking better than ever, or at least better than it has for the past 15+ years. Seeing it in its newly-conserved state, the viewer can appreciate fully Meadmore’s intent of using the painted surface of the sculpture to […]

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Meadmore’s Curl…Dismantling a Steel Sculpture

Here are a few recent photos, taken by Avery Library’s Registrar & Digital Content Librarian, showing the dismantling of Clement Meadmore’s Curl as it makes its way off-site to be conserved and returned later in the fall semester. To see even more great images, visit the Avery Library blog for images from Day 1, Day […]

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