Bust of Anderson and figure of Labor: bronze; Each base: granite; Exedra: granite
Type:
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Administered by City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works 611 Second Avenue Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15222
Located Allegheny Square Between Buhl Planetarium and Carnegie Library Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Date:
Modeled 1903. Cast 1904. Dedicated June 15, 1904. Relocated ca. 1960s
Notes:
Evert, Marilyn, "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture," Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983, pg. 4-6.
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, PA0138, 1989.
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, PA0268, 1989.
Monumental News, Jan. 1905, pg. 36.
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania survey, 1995.
Image on file.
Evert, Marilyn, "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture," Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983, pg. 36-37.
(Bust of Anderson:) D. C. FRENCH SC (Proper right side of Labor:) DANIEL C. FRENCH SC. 1903 (Proper left side of Labor:) THE HENRY BONNARD BRONZE CO FOUNDERS NY 1904 (Plaque, front of Labor's base:) TO COLONEL JAMES ANDERSON, FOUNDER OF FREE LIBRARIES IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. HE OPENED HIS LIBRARY TO THE WORKING BOYS AND ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON ACTED AS LIBRARIAN, THUS DEDICATING NOT ONLY HIS BOOKS, BUT HIMSELF, TO THE NOBLE WORK. THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE BY ANDREW CARNEGIE, ONE OF THE "WORKING BOYS" TO WHOM WERE THUS OPENED THE PRECIOUS TREASURES OF KNOWLEDGE AND IMAGINATION THROUGH WHICH YOUTH MAY ASCEND. signed Founder's mark appears.
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.
Summary:
The figure of Labor is a working man reading a book. He is seated on an anvil, over which drapery is spread. The figure is shirtless, but wears pants, shoes, and a hat. His head is bent over a book which lies open across his knees. His proper right hand holds the book, while his proper left hand rests on the anvil next to a hammer. The figure of Labor rests on a square granite base and just above him on a separate base is a bust of Colonel James Anderson. The benches of the exedra curve outward with the base of each sculpture forming the center of the monument.
