Philadelphia Arts

At age 26, Alexander Milne Calder began the work that became the masterwork of his career, designing more than 250 sculptures for Philadelphia's City Hall. He started the statue of William Penn in 1872, but the image was not approved until 1886, and only in 1890 did a foundry capable of casting so large a sculpture become available. Philadelphia's Tacony Iron and Metal Works cast William Penn in 47 sections and hauled the finished pieces one by one to a nearby field, where local children walked along the brim of Penn's hat, marveled at his 13-inch nose, and smoothed the six-inch buttons on his coat. By 1892, the fully assembled figure greeted visitors in the City Hall courtyard, and late in 1894 the bronzed 26-ton sculpture was raised to its permanent place atop City Hall. William Penn now looks over a city rich in public sculpture and major art collections, including works by Louise Nevelson, Henry Moore, Claes Oldenburg, Picasso, Van Gough, Matisse, Cassatt, Pippin, Muybridge, Adams, and Kiefer, as well as the finest private collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings and the largest collection of Rodin sculptures and drawings outside Paris. Philadelphia's artistic legacy also includes three generations of the Calder family along Benjamin Franklin Parkway: Alexander Milne, creator of the City Hall sculptures and William Penn; Alexander Stirling, whose works include Swann Fountain at Logan Square; and Alexander, whose mobile Ghost hangs in the front lobby of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States