Fountain of the Great Lakes - Chicago, IL
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adgorn
N 41° 52.722 W 087° 37.405
16T E 448272 N 4636496
The Fountain of the Great Lakes, one of the best known works of Lorado Taft, shows five female figures grouped such that water flows from their shells in the same way it passes through the Great Lake system.
Waymark Code: WM7H6Z
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 10/26/2009
Views: 8
In this bronze work of art created, (Lake) Superior, at the top, and Michigan empty their water into the basin held by Huron, who sends her stream on to Erie. Ontario receives water and gazes off as it flows into the ocean. Completed in 1913, the fountain sits in the south wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The idea for a Great Lakes fountain came from a remark made by architect Daniel Burnham at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Burnham chided the sculptors assembled to ornament the fairgrounds for not "making anything" of the great natural resources in the west, especially the Great Lakes.
The fountain was originally installed facing south where it remained until 1963 when it was moved next to the Morton Wing addition facing west where it sits today. The fountain was commissioned by Benjamin Ferguson, a Chicago patron of sculpture arts, and one surface references the title B. F. Ferguson Fountain of the Great Lakes. Apparently, there is a relief sculpture of Benjamin Ferguson on the rear panel that has been hidden from view since the fountain was moved.
From Art Inventory site:
Approx. 25 ft. x 53 ft. 8 in. x 7 ft.
(Inscription, now inaccessible:) Benjamin Franklin Ferguson bequeathed in trust to the trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago a fund of one million dollars to be known as the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund - the income derived from the fund must be used for the erection and maintenance of enduring statuary and monuments in the parks along the boulevards or in other public places within the City of Chicago commemorating worthy men or women of America or important events of her history -- Anno Domino MCMXIII (Inscription, carved on recto proper left:) Erected by the trustees of the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund 1913. (Inscription, on proper right:) The B. F. Ferguson Fountain of the Great Lakes/ Lorado Taft signed
Description: Monument consists of: a pool surrounding a pedestal on which two putti hold fish which serve as water spouts; on a second pedestal raised on first one, a group of five figures representing the Great Lakes; one of the figures, a woman, stands higher than the other four showering water down over the others; also present are three plaques - the center one with Benjamin Franklin Ferguson on it.
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