Oskar J. W. Hansen (March 12, 1892 – August 31, 1971
Obituary, New York Times, September 3, 1971.) was a Norwegian-born, naturalized

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

sculptor. He is most associated with the design of many of the sculptures on and around the

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

, most notably ''

Winged Figures of the Republic A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the benefit ...

''.''Biography of Oskar J. W. Hansen'' (pakalahau.wordpress)
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Biography

Oskar Johan Waldemar Hansen was born in the parish of Langenes in

Øksnes Municipality Øksnes is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northwestern part of the large island of Langøya, which is a part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

, Norway. Before coming to America, he served as a merchant seaman. He later served in the United States Army. In the late 1930s or early 1940s, Hansen built a home and artist's studio on property near

Ashcroft Ashcroft may refer to: Places * Ashcroft, British Columbia, a village in Canada **Ashcroft House in Bagpath, Gloucestershire, England—eponym of the Canadian village * Ashcroft, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Ashcroft, Colorado, ...

outside

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

Selected works

*''

'' - among numerous examples of his sculpture in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

mode commissioned by the US

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

, executed under the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, supervising architect to the Bureau at

. *''Wings'' - installed in the lobby of the

Rand Tower Rand Tower Hotel is a 26-story high rise hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was one of the city's tallest structures when it was completed as an office building in 1929. It was converted to a hotel in 2020. History The Rand To ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, completed in 1929. *''Liberty'' - installed in 1957 atop a column replaced one that had been struck by lightning in 1942 at the

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...

, Victory Monument, commemorating the 1781 victory at Yorktown and the alliance with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

that brought about the end of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and the resulting peace with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

.Yorktown Victory Monument, Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Gallery

Related Writings

*''Beyond the Cherubim'' (1964) *''Sculptures at Hoover Dam'' (1960)

References

External links