North Terrace

North Terrace. Spiritual, Intellectual, and Physical Forces that Shaped the Nation. , Three competitions called "Sculpture Internationals" were held to choose the sculptors whose works are part of the Memorial. Sponsors by the Fairmount Park Art Association and held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, these events attracted hundreds of entries from across America and Europe., The 1933 event, held during the worldwide depression, featured renowned sculptors from seven countries. The event was hailed as the most significant American sculpture exhibition of the century. The 1940 competition featured fewer European entries due to World War II., Many works displayed were on loan from U.S. museums and government agencies such as the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The final competition was held in 1949 to select artists for this terrace. It was called the "world's biggest sculpture show" by Life magazine., The North Terrace was the final stage of the Samuel Memorial. Most of the works here are by foreign-born artists and represent the physical development and social awareness that shaped and defined America., [Captions:] , This terrace is one of three built between 1933 and 1961 by the Fairmount Park Art Association through the bequest of philanthropist Ellen Phillips Samuel. Samuel's wish was to create a series of sculptures representing the history of America from the earliest settelrs to the modern era., ❶ The Preacher , 1952 , Waldemar Raemisch (1888-1955), ❷ The Poet , 1954 , José de Creeft (1884-1882) , These granite figures were designed to represent the spiritual, 'inner life' of America., The Poet represents America's imagination and The Preacher the country's spiritual purpose. Sculptor de Creeft, a native of Spain, helped revive "direct carving" along with other sculptors represented here. Raemisch fled Nazi Germany for the United States and created The Great Mother and The Great Doctor located on Parkside Avenue in West Fairmount Park., The original plan was to pair these pieces with the work Social Consciousness by Jacob Epstein. Collectively the group was to reflect the way that communal values, civic awareness and social activism have shaped the country and helped people achieve the American dream. Epstein's work was too large to fit in the North Terrace. Instead, it was placed at the western entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art., ❸ The Scientist , 1955 , Karen der Harootian (1909-1991), ❹ The Laborer , 1958 , Ahran Ben-Shmuel (1903-1984) , These two granite sculptures represent the brains and brawn of American enterprise. They acknowledge that the country was built on individual contributions and significant discoveries., The Scientist represents American inventors and innovation. Armenian-born sculptor der Harootian also created Young Meher located on Kelly Drive near the Art Museum., The Laborer, with massive hands, represents the working men and women who helped build American. Sculptor Ben-Shmuel grew up in New York where he trained as a stone-cutter., ❺ Jacques Lipchitz's The Spirit of Enterprise was a companion piece to these statues until it was moved to the Central Terrace in 1986., Life magazine published this photo of the 1949 "Sculpture International." It features seventy sculptors sitting in the Great Stair Hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. One of the artists remarked that "Never had so many sculptors been scrubbed and assembled in one place before."