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Lot Essay
Paul Manship's fantastic and original Celestial Sphere stands out as one of the most creative artistic accomplishments in three dimensions of the twentieth century. Immediately upon its first public appearance in 1933, the Sphere was greeted enthusiastically by contemporary art critics. "When Manship's bronze Celestial Sphere -- with its gilded constellations, white metal stars, and variously patinated architectural parts -- was exhibited at the Averell House, it elicited this excited review: 'In this chamber is seen for the first time the model for the Celestial Globe that is perhaps the most exciting performance to date. It is an intricately devised sphere that will be seen eventually without background, permitting observation of the stars which will be placed on the inside of the figured constellations.' A blindfolded woman representing night supportS the sphere. All the stars of the first four magnitudes are shown, as are sixty-six constellations; the perforated sphere turns on its polar axis and can be set for any hour." (H. Rand, Paul Manship, Washington, DC, 1989, p. 124)
Manship, who was consumed by the idea of the sphere for approximately ten years, cast the work in three sizes. The first version, cast once in 1934, is also known as Aero Memorial. The work consists of a sphere of five feet in diameter atop a tall granite base. The imposing work stands in Logan Square in Philadelphia, where it has been since it was purchased by the city. The only monumental version of the sphere is also known as the Woodrow Wilson Memorial -- Celestial Sphere. It stands at the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, the site for which it was created. The last of the spheres, the Wilson Memorial was cast in 1939. The globe measures thirteen feet and six inches in diameter, and rests upon four cast bronze turtles.
Manship cast only five versions of his famous sphere in the present size, and only three of the globes are perforated in this manner. Other examples are in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as the St. Louis City Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.
The idea for this outstanding and unique sphere "had originated with a five-foot glass sphere etched with images of the constellations that Eric Gugler [a friend of the artist and an architect himself] had bought in Germany. For his own amusement Manship had begun to model images of the constellation in high relief on the glass; eventually he had the whole thing cast in plaster. He mounted the sphere on a base consisting of the figure of a flying blindfolded woman, signifying the unknown." (J. Manship, Paul Manship, New York, 1989, p. 137)
Manship, who was keenly interested in mythology, often derived his subject matter from the great Greek and Roman myths. During the many years he spent working on the various versions of the Sphere, "Manship sought out authorities in the field. He struck up close friendships with the astronomers Clyde Fisher of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Harlow Shapley of Harvard University. He studied astronomy, made frequent visits to New York's Hayden Planetarium, and went stargazing, often with his son, John, whom he taught to recognize constellations. But his interest was an artist's, not a scientist's; what fascinated him was the mythology of the heavens --Perseus and Andromeda, Orion, and Pegasus eternally delineated by their stars." (J. Manship, Paul Manship, p. 138)
Manship created a monumental version of the Sphere in plaster for the 1939 New York World's Fair which was destroyed after the fair. At that time, Manship commented on the various elements featured in the Sphere and their relationship to each other. He stated: "'The representation of the heavenly constellations is derived from Babylonia and Assyria; the Greeks and Latins added their names and gave the constellations a local significance in some cases and I have adhered as closely as possible to the ancient forms. Thus, the star, Aldeberan, which represents the eye of Taurus, dictates the character of the design, as is also the case of Regulas, the Lion's Heart, and so with all the constellations the forms and attitudes of the figures have been made to correspond firstly with the position and the meaning of the jobs themselves, and after that the inter-relationship of the constellations was designed to create a harmonious ensemble.'" (H. Rand, Paul Manship, p. 125)
Manship, who was consumed by the idea of the sphere for approximately ten years, cast the work in three sizes. The first version, cast once in 1934, is also known as Aero Memorial. The work consists of a sphere of five feet in diameter atop a tall granite base. The imposing work stands in Logan Square in Philadelphia, where it has been since it was purchased by the city. The only monumental version of the sphere is also known as the Woodrow Wilson Memorial -- Celestial Sphere. It stands at the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, the site for which it was created. The last of the spheres, the Wilson Memorial was cast in 1939. The globe measures thirteen feet and six inches in diameter, and rests upon four cast bronze turtles.
Manship cast only five versions of his famous sphere in the present size, and only three of the globes are perforated in this manner. Other examples are in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as the St. Louis City Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.
The idea for this outstanding and unique sphere "had originated with a five-foot glass sphere etched with images of the constellations that Eric Gugler [a friend of the artist and an architect himself] had bought in Germany. For his own amusement Manship had begun to model images of the constellation in high relief on the glass; eventually he had the whole thing cast in plaster. He mounted the sphere on a base consisting of the figure of a flying blindfolded woman, signifying the unknown." (J. Manship, Paul Manship, New York, 1989, p. 137)
Manship, who was keenly interested in mythology, often derived his subject matter from the great Greek and Roman myths. During the many years he spent working on the various versions of the Sphere, "Manship sought out authorities in the field. He struck up close friendships with the astronomers Clyde Fisher of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Harlow Shapley of Harvard University. He studied astronomy, made frequent visits to New York's Hayden Planetarium, and went stargazing, often with his son, John, whom he taught to recognize constellations. But his interest was an artist's, not a scientist's; what fascinated him was the mythology of the heavens --Perseus and Andromeda, Orion, and Pegasus eternally delineated by their stars." (J. Manship, Paul Manship, p. 138)
Manship created a monumental version of the Sphere in plaster for the 1939 New York World's Fair which was destroyed after the fair. At that time, Manship commented on the various elements featured in the Sphere and their relationship to each other. He stated: "'The representation of the heavenly constellations is derived from Babylonia and Assyria; the Greeks and Latins added their names and gave the constellations a local significance in some cases and I have adhered as closely as possible to the ancient forms. Thus, the star, Aldeberan, which represents the eye of Taurus, dictates the character of the design, as is also the case of Regulas, the Lion's Heart, and so with all the constellations the forms and attitudes of the figures have been made to correspond firstly with the position and the meaning of the jobs themselves, and after that the inter-relationship of the constellations was designed to create a harmonious ensemble.'" (H. Rand, Paul Manship, p. 125)