''River Legend'' is an outdoor 1976

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

sculpture by American artist

Dimitri Hadzi Dimitri Hadzi (March 21, 1921 – April 16, 2006) was an American abstract sculptor who lived and worked in Rome, Italy for 25 years and later resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he also taught at Harvard University for over a decade. Li ...

, located outside of the Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Description and history

''River Legend'', designed by American artist

, is a

sculpture installed outside the Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildi ...

. It was commissioned for $65,000 in the 1970s by the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

's Art-in-Architecture Program and completed in September 1976. The

allegorical sculpture Allegorical sculpture are sculptures of personifications of abstract ideas, as in allegory. Common in the western world, for example, are statues of Lady Justice representing justice, traditionally holding scales and a sword, and the statues of P ...

("rivers") measures x x , according to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, or approximately x x , according to the General Services Administration. The arch is made of Columbia Basin basalt and named after a natural crossing that spanned the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

and allowed tribes to interact, according to Native American lore. Hadzi has specifically referred to the former land bridge called Bridge of the Gods near

Cascade Locks Cascade Locks is a city in Hood River County, Oregon, Hood River County, Oregon, United States. The city got its name from Cascade Locks and Canal, a set of locks built to improve navigation past the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River. The U. ...

, and has also said the piece represents "man's power over nature and the taming of the wilderness". Originally, he intended to cast a

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

, but changed his mind after viewing natural geological formations along the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

. The General Services Administration refers to the sculpture as a "monumental stone arch", while ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' describes ''River Legend'' as a "street-level, dark-hued arch, made edgy by blond spiky protrusions around one segment". Despite being publicly financed, the sculpture was initially hidden from general public view because the Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building's original architect believed the arch competed with the building's design. It was installed on the building's plaza and was visible to occupants and visitors, but not from the street. Hadzi constructed a full-size cardboard replica to illustrate to the architect how it would look outside the building; according to Hadzi, the architect eventually realized "it was a mistake not to have

he sculpture He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

up front". The arch's five sections were originally built on-site by the artist. According to the General Services Administration, he "worked the surface of the stones with a variety of treatments and carefully pinned and fitted the sections together with minimal joinery". ''River Legend'' was relocated to the exterior in 2013 after the Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt Federal Building underwent a major renovation. According to the Smithsonian Institution, the work remains administered by General Services Administration's Art-in-Architecture Program. Though not currently on display, the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

's collection includes a maquette of ''River Legend''. The cast bronze maquette measures 11 1/8 x 15 x 7 in. (28.1 x 38.0 x 17.9 cm) and is set on a marble base.

Reception

In his review for ''The Oregonian'', Len Reed said the sculpture "seemed to offer relief, as if it were a jolt of reckless nature amid all the glass and concrete and metal. It seemed at once ancient and modern. It seemed to hold a secret." Furthermore, he said:

''River Legend'' may be decades old, but its energy is all new and very, very public. Whether the pleasure it produces is encoded in cells or the result of some mysterious learning doesn't really matter. The ancient rock soars. That's true even if its nifty fins are wood shims to prevent a crack from expanding. Somehow amid moving, storing, and re-siting, a segment of the columnar basalt let go and requires an injection of epoxy to hold. It wouldn't be crazy to think of the sculpture for now as a songbird with a leg splint. Such a small price for a new life.

References

External links

Public Commissions
at DimitriHadzi.com {{Public art in Portland, Oregon 1976 establishments in Oregon 1976 sculptures Allegorical sculptures in Oregon Outdoor sculptures in Southwest Portland, Oregon Relocated buildings and structures in Oregon Sculptures by American artists Stone sculptures in Portland, Oregon

Description and history

Reception

See also

References

External links