PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A series of enormous banners designed by Alexander Calder are back on display for the first time since they went missing in the 1980s and were feared destroyed.

The four shortest banners in the set of eight are on view until March in the lobby of Philadelphia’s main public library, and may eventually be permanently displayed in a planned expansion of the facility.

“They are beautiful,” said Susan Davis, former director of public art at the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. “They aren’t faded or damaged, except for some small water damage.” They are the only banners Calder designed, she said.

Real estate developer and contemporary art collector Jack Wolgin commissioned the banners in 1975 as part of the Redevelopment Authority’s public art requirement for his $80 million Centre Square office building across from City Hall.
Claes Oldenburg’s now-iconic “Clothespin” also was erected as part of the project, as was a giant steel sculpture by Jean Dubuffet, Milord la Chamarre.

Calder designed the boldly colored banners of the sun, moon and floral garlands for the building’s atrium. The Calder-designed steel armature from which they were to hang, a piece of sculpture itself, was never used and is in a Centre Square parking garage.

Wolgin sold Centre Square in the early 1980s and the banners disappeared after being taken down from the atrium. After the building was again sold around 2000, at Davis’ urging, then-building manager Greg Frazier searched for the banners. He eventually found them inside plastic tubs in one of the tower’s countless storage rooms – and they were in good condition.

Wolgin, now 92 and living in Florida, was delighted they had been found. “I am hopeful that the city, the community, and the owners of Centre Square will work expeditiously toward the permanent public display of all the beautiful Calder banners,” Wolgin told the Philadelphia Inquirer for a story Monday.

Since finding the banners, Davis has searched for a permanent home for them. She eventually contacted the Free Library, which is embarking on an expansion by architect Moshe Safdie.

“This is a major work of a major American artist. … That’s what’s motivating this effort,” Davis said. “That they’re sitting scrunched up in these little tubs – that’s a waste of great public art.”
Sandra A. Horrocks, spokeswoman for the Free Library Foundation, said the library would “very much love to have them” on permanent display, but a number of steps have to be taken before that can happen.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer,
http://www.philly.com

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