Art & Architecture in Central Library
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A quick look at some of the notable
art and architecture to be found in the Central Library. Docent
tours are also available. Click on any item name for a photograph
of the item.
Painted Ceiling in Main Lobby
Renee Petropoulos created the vividly painted ceiling for the
Goodhue Building’s first floor lobby. Taking her cues
from decorative motifs in the library, she used the concept
of decoration as subject matter. Vividly colored rings, starbursts,
checkerboards and names of Los Angeles novelists intertwine
on the 36 foot by 36 foot ceiling. As a counterpoint to the
building’s symmetry, she painted her design off center
and created a sense of movement that provides an active viewing
experience.
“It has been very important to me that this building
is a library, said Petropoulos. I have often used text in my
work, for the most part as a form-an indecipherable element.
Because the ceiling was divided into quadrants it was possible
to set up a mirror reverse situation using the names of living,
contemporary fiction writers as the underlying structure for
the painting. The first and last names of the writers are separated.
I have always been a passionate reader and have been in awe
of the process of writing. Being able to create a work for the
Central Library in the city of my birth has been quite special.”
Atrium Chandeliers in Tom Bradley Wing
Created by Therman Statom the three chandeliers hanging in
the Bradley Wing atrium echo the magnificent 2,000 pound cast-bronze
chandelier in the historic Lodwrick M. Cook Rotunda. While Goodhue
found decorative inspiration in elements of the solar system.
Statom explores the concepts of man-made endeavors, natural
phenomena and ethereal ideas. Each chandelier evokes one of
these themes through a variety of sculptural appendages such
as a heart and a carrot.
“I envisioned the chandeliers’ function in the
Library as a heart to the overall visual, architectural, practical
and spiritual functions of the building.” Statom commented.
Atrium Lanterns
The title of Anne Preston’s functional art, “Illumination,”
refers to light, understanding and books. Preston designed the
thirteen-and-one-half-foot-tall lanterns located at each escalator
landing in the Bradley Wing atrium. The shape of an upside-down
human profile is repeated in the form of 24 radiating vanes
on the upper portion of each lantern. Fixtures at the base shine
light up to a reflector located inside the lantern top, thereby
illuminating the lantern and the surrounding space.
Preston prepared the following statement about her art:
“Accretion, which begets synthesis, begets illumination,
which begets ecstasy” equally describes art and research.
Such is our desire for, and pleasure in, coherence. (Preston,
1993, private communication)
Ivanhoe Frieze in International Languages Department
by Julian E. Garnsey and A.W. Parsons
These life-size figures illustrate Sir Walter Scott’s
story of “Ivanhoe” and the days of romance and chivalry.
Colors are coordinated with ceiling decorations painted on the
concrete beams, suggestive of Old Normandy.
Ivanhoe Paintings (left to right):
Fence, Grilles, & Gates, across International Languages Department in Gregory Peck Walkway
(Lobby of the Mark Taper Auditorium)
Ries Niemi designed the 90-foot-long fence along Fifth Street,
as well as five metal gates and four window grilles in the Children’s
Courtyard. Multilingual inscriptions are rendered in the ornamental
metal of the fence and gates. The text of these inscriptions
represents major cultures and reflects the fundamental purpose
of a library: to promote reading and transmit knowledge. The
grilles at the Children’s Courtyard add a decorative element
to this charming area which features the planters, fountain,
and bas reliefs from the original Children’s Courtyard.
Children's Court (often closed to viewing)
The Lotus Shaft Fountain
Features a sienna marble carving illustrating the delights of reading.
Panel Carvings (clockwise)
Elevators
David Bunn envisioned two passenger elevators in the Tom Bradley
Wing as more than a way to get from one floor to another. The
artist transformed them into “observation pods”
traveling between subject divisions by using some of the Library’s
seven million catalog cards rendered obsolete by the new state-of-the-art
automation system. With these cards Bunn papered the inside
of the elevator cabs and lined the shafts which are visible
through a viewing window in the cabs. The elevators also display
a digital readout of the Dewey Decimal numbers for each floor
the elevator passes. “The elevators and the card catalog
together form a kind of ‘core sample’ of the library,”
explained Bunn. “As the catalog dutifully classifies and
finds a place for every book, so the elevators travel deep through
the center of the building, encompassing and accessing all the
building’s holdings.”
Lodwrick M. Cook Rotunda on the second floor
by Dean Cornwell
Depicting four great eras of California history, including
discovery, mission building, Americanization and the founding
of Los Angeles: the beginnings of arts and industry: and conquering
of the elements in California. Completed in 1932, their color
values were purposely restrained to harmonize with the many-colored
mosaic-like dome decorations by Julian E. Garnsey.
Dean Cornwell, born in 1892, was awarded the contract for the
murals in 1927 and spent the next five years in research preparing
the final canvases. Cornwell has distinguished himself with
his murals and as a magazine illustrator, both here and abroad.
Globe Chandelier
The chandelier was designed by Goodhue Associates, modeled
by Lee Lawrie and manufactured by the Thomas Day Company of
Los Angeles. In the 1980s, Historical Arts and Casting of Salt
Lake City restored the Globe Chandelier. Composed of cast bronze,
it weights one ton and is 9 feet in diameter. Its' original
cost was $40,000.
The Chandelier is part of a model of the solar system. A translucent
blue-glass globe with hand-painted continents hangs in the middle.
Planets and a crescent moon can be found in the chains that
suspend the globe and the sunburst on the ceiling directly above
the globe mirrors the sunburst on the pyramid top of the Library
outside. Signs of the zodiac ring the globe along with 48 lights
around the rim, which represent the 48 United States in 1926
when the building opened.
A Golden Hand
In 1987, when workmen began restoration of the tiled pyramid
atop the Library, they discovered the original finial - a golden
hand, entwined by the Serpent of Knowledge, holding the Torch
of Learning - was weakened with age. So a exact copy is now
on top of the building. Sculpted by Lee Lawrie of terra cotta.
It is an illustration of Bertram Goodhue's theme of Central
Library - “The Light of Learning.”
Statue of Civilization
by Lee Lawrie
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In Italian marble with metal draperies and carved panel, this statue symbolizes all the Library represents.
Her left hand holds a torch tipped with a flame resting on a turtle, dominion over land and sea. On her crown is a miniature of the Library, two angels for the City of Los Angeles, and the bear and star for the State of California. |
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In her right hand is a book with quotations in five languages that reads:
"In the beginning was the word." (Greek)
"Knowledge extends horizons." (Latin)
"Nobility carries obligations." (French)
"Wisdom is in the truth." (German)
"Beauty is truth - truth beauty." (English)
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In the panel are symbols of ancient and modern civilizations from bottom to top they represent:
Blank for unknown ages of man
Pyramids of Egypt
Ship for Phoenicia
Winged Bull for Babylonia & Tablets for Judea
Lion Gate of Palace of Ninos & Parthenon for Minoan and Grecian civilizations
Wolf with Romulus and Remus for Rome
Dragon for China
Siva for India
Notre Dame for Mediaeval Christian Europe
Plumed Serpent Head for Maya
Buffalo, Covered Wagon, and
Liberty Bell for United States of America |
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Sphinxes
In black unveined Belgian marble with bronze headdresses, the
sphinxes symbolize the hidden mysteries of knowledge and guard
the approach to the Statue of Civilization.
On the open books is inscribed in Greek, from Plutarch's Morals ("On Isis and Osiris"):
Left Sphinx - "I am all that was and is and is to be and no man hath lifted up my veil."
Right Sphinx - "Therefore the desire of Truth, especially of that which concerns the gods, is itself a yearning after Divinity."
California History Murals in Children's Literature Department (left to right):
by Albert Herter
Originally hung in 1928 in the Hope Street tunnel entrance.
They succeed in imparting the gracious, colorful and romantic atmosphere of early California history.
Entryway, Steps, & Pools in Maguire Gardens
These elements comprise Jud Fine’s major art program.
“Spine” and feature inscriptions and sculptures
analogous to an open book. Flanking the Flower Street entrance
to the gardens are two pieces not unlike the frontispiece or
end sheets of a book. Looking ahead is a series of stairs past
raised pools titled “Bright,” “Lucid,”
and “Clear.” Risers on the steps on either side
of the fountains encompass slightly patinated brass with letters
from 19 languages etched in green; black copper plate with printed
words in nine languages cut into the surface in white; and symbolic
communications in higher math, art and poetry established during
the electron age, etched on stainless steel plate in black.
Commenting on the title of his work, Fine Said 'Spine' is a
title which brings several confluent ideas to mind. The spine
is the fundamental unit of a body that gives it the strength
and support to stand on its own. The spine begins where the
brain leaves off. The electricity of the body flows through
it. “Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are
all classified together due to the commonality of the spine.
Structurally, the spine also refers to the anatomy of the book.
A book is identified by the name running down its spine. The
spine separates the front from the back, and at the same time
hinges them together. It is the central nervous system of the
book.”
Fountain
Laddie John Dill’s underwater, multi-colored surface
elicits land formations beneath the Library. Mineo Mizuno’s
porcelain objects are the water source. In the fountain’s
ripples are a thousand colors, refractions from Dill’s
underwater surfaces which line the base of the pool. The overall
effect is of a pointillistic painting, precise yet fleeting,
muted yet clear.
“In the sixteen-foot diagonal fountain I have employed
materials that I felt are indigenous to the surrounding area,"
said Dill. "The obvious employment of cement, glass and
ceramic is meshed with pigments of ground minerals and oxides
that existed in the area before the architecture that surrounds
it. The attempt is to combine the ephemeral qualities of these
natural oxides in an expressionistic manner and have them interact
with the architectural structure that defines them physically.”
Grotto Fountain
Its design by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, and artworks
by Jud Fine, pay tribute to the principle of civil liberties
and each individual’s inalienable right to knowledge.
Its theme is rooted in the principals of democracy, drawing
upon two sources, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution
and the words of Frederick Douglass.
“The Public Library as a principle is our most important
democratic institution," said Fine. "It answers the
demand for education for one and all, providing an accessible
knowledge base for social and cultural progression.”
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