The Making of a Bronze Statue

Four Times Marguerite
Bronze, 7 feet high

In 1994 the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston held a small competition among three sculptors to design a sculpture for a lobby in their new women's health wing. George Carr's entry was selected, but the administration had second thoughts about the concept and asked the sculptor to come up with a new one. The sculptor came up with three more ideas, and the last was accepted. The earlier concepts are shown in the image below. The essential role of the sculpture, as set forth by the hospital administration, was to somehow depict the lifespan of a woman. The sculpture "Four Times Marguerite" shows the same individual, girl and woman, at different times of her life.


"Marguerite" means "pearl" in French so the sculpture can be thought of as a small, precious element inside the "shell" of the building. The sculpture contains other symbolic elements. A single bolt of cloth, representing the passage of time, winds from the youngest figure to the oldest, beginning and ending at the ground. The baby girl floats, happily independent, fortelling the confident woman she is to become. The little girl, reading, represents intellectual life. The young woman, in shorts and tee shirt, represents the physical side of life and a round object she holds against her chest could be a ball, or an egg, suggesting fertility. The older woman is seated as on a throne, at the peak of her career, a figure of authority.The artist was consciously trying to avoid the traditional celebration of woman as mother, feeling that at the end of the 20th Century an update on women's roles was called for. It is significant that the figure in the position of honor is the fifty- or sixty-something Marguerite, rather than the fertile younger woman.
An architectural model was helpful in trying out different designs for the sculpture.

Using the model the sculpture could be seen from unusual views, such as from the second-floor gallery.
Catherine Tucker modelled for aspects of the sculpted elder figure.

A realist artist sculpting human figures for the public art realm today must consider how to handle the issue of the figures' race, ethnicity and gender. Theoretically, some members of the public can feel left out if they cannot identify with a figurative work. In fact, in order to avoid criticism many art programs will bow to the rules of political correctness and fund only non-figurative sculpture such as abstract art, a dodge that works but robs posterity of more likeable artwork. But a bronze sculpture can last decades or centuries, surviving much longer than the silly attitudes of the present day.

In an attempt to keep the figures' race and ethnicity vague and indeterminate in this piece, the artist worked with models from a variety of backgrounds.
Most of the modeling of the clay figures was done outdoors in the summer and fall. A temporary shelter (above right) let in lots of natural light, but kept out the rain. The deck could be rotated.

At the New Arts foundry in Baltimore:
Foundry worker Lisa Garrett touches up one of the figures, now a hollow wax cast (above).



Owner Gary Siegel demonstrates the durability of the bronze bench which is part of the design (right)
The figures having been welded together and chased, Cecilia Constantine uses a torch to apply the patina (below)
Because delivery of the sculpture had to be done through a low-ceilinged ambulance bay, an auto transport trailer was used for the trip to Boston from the foundry in Baltimore (left).The wheeled crate was easy to roll off the low-slung trailer.

The crate had an open bottom and was supported by trailer jacks. Once alongside the marble base to which it was to be mounted, the sculpture was raised via the jacks, rolled into a straddling position over the base, and lowered into place.
The group of figures seen from the far end of the lobby, with bronze drapery bench on right. Visitors can also see the sculpture from a second-story walkway (at upper right of picture)
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