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 Descent of Civilization - Kansas City, Missouri Posted by:  iconions
N 39° 06.231 W 094° 35.236
15S E 362753 N 4329500
This sculpted American Bison skeleton is located on the Southwest corner of 9th and Broadway in Kansas City, Missouri.
Waymark Code: WM10XQK
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 07/07/2019
Views: 2
Artist: Swanson, Marc, 1969- , sculptor.
Title: Descent of Civilization, (sculpture).
Other Titles: Bison Memorial, (sculpture).
Dates: Installed Oct. 11, 2010. Dedicated Oct. 13, 2010.
Medium: Sculpture: bronze; Base: limestone.
Dimensions: Sculpture: 5 x 9 x 3 ft. (800 lbs.); Base: 5 x 8 x 3 ft.
Subject: Animal -- Cattle
Animal -- Other -- Skeleton
Object Type: Outdoor Sculpture -- Missouri -- Kansas City
Owner: Owned by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri 64111
Located West 9th Street & Broadway Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri
References: Kansas City Adopt A Monument, 2014.
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 74870134
- Smithsonian Outdoor Sculpture Database
DESCENT OF CIVILIZATION
This sculpture serves as a memorial to the great herds of Plains buffalo
A reminder of what was compromised in the development of
our great nation and is now lost from the landscape.
- Marc Swanson. Artist, 2010
- Marker Text
Kansas City, MO – Brooklyn-based artist Marc Swanson has been described as a social provocateur and alchemist.
Many of Swanson's works combine animal forms with light from mirrors or cut glass. His sculpture, a towering bronze skeleton called "Descent of Civilization (Bison Memorial)" was inspired by a photograph.
"(The photograph is) from the late 1800s," says Swanson. "It's a man standing on top of a pile of buffalo skulls."
Swanson grew up in rural New Hampshire, and says there's a duality to his work.
"'Descent of Civilization (Bison Memorial)' is very strong and majestic and bronze and bold," says Swanson. "But also it's a skeleton, and has a different read to it."
This marks the third sculpture placed in downtown Kansas City, through a Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and DST Systems, Inc. partnership.
- KCUR.org website
TITLE: Descent of Civilization
ARTIST(S): Swanson, Marc
DATE: Installed Oct. 11, 2010. Dedicated Oct. 13, 2010
MEDIUM: Sculpture: bronze; Base: limestone.
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 74870134
Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link]
PHYSICAL LOCATION:
333 W 9th Street
Kansas City, Missouri 64105
DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH:
none - sculpture is in great shape. I actually work in the building where it is located and enjoy watching all of the people that admire this work.
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