FAMILY GROUP - 1972

Four semi-cylindrical forms of varying heights and circumferences are grouped together in a shallow rectangular or square pool, near one of its corners. The three larger, more upright forms group are positioned around a smaller, curved form. The effect is suggestive of a protective group in which, like plants, the young unfurl toward the sun. At night, the fountain was illuminated, offering a “display of reflected lights.” [1]

FAMILY GROUP IN SITU, C. 2006. PHOTOGRAPHER, TOM VAN SANT

ELECTROFORMING FAMILY GROUP, C. 1971. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

  • Union Bank

    East Plaza, Newport Center

  • 1972

  • Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill

  • Electroformed nickel and bronze

  • 8 ft. x 25 ft.

  • Unknown

  • Retail Clerks International Union, Local 707

  • Extant in situ. Good.

  • TVS digital records.

  • For this project, Van Sant appears to have used a process he employed on The Gulls of Salt Lake City(1964), for which “one hundred electro-deposited bronze gulls commemorate the seagulls which saved the crops from locusts at the first Mormon settlement.” [2]

    “The 18-storyUnion Bank is the tallest of the eight buildings in the financial plaza.” [3]

    “The first steps in a campaign to locate a regional cultural center at Newport Center will be taken Thursday night during the dedication of a fountain at the Union Bank Building. Alan C. Stoneman, president of the Newport Harbor Foundation, will announce establishment of a fund drive to pay for planning of the center at the dedication of the fountain by Tom Van Sant.” [4]

     The foundation was dedicated at a ceremony on Thursday October 5, 1972.

    Tony Sheets assisted Van Sant on this project.

    [1] “Money for Planning, Harbor Group to Start Fund Drive for Culture Center,” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1972, OC-C1.

     [2] “Money for Planning, Harbor Group to Start Fund Drive for Culture Center,” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1972, OC-C1

    [3] Roberta A. Wright, “More Work, Play at Newport Center, Independent Press Telegram, Long Beach, September 5, 1972.

    [4] Tom Van Sant, Annotated Image List, 2013, TVS digital records.

Next Page Button with Image
Next Page
Next Page Button with Image
Next Page