Talk:Roger Noble Burnham

Which astronomer?

@Lugnuts, Carptrash, and Lockley: Hey, folks. The six figures on the Astronomers Monument at the Griffith Observatory were each modeled by a different sculptor. Any of you know which one was by Burnham? (It's not Copernicus.) Best, == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 11:17, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

Sorry, no idea. Thanks. Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 14:00, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

So far just "The only “signature” on the Astronomers Monument is “PWAP 1934” referring to the federal agency which funded the project and the year it was completed." but not finished yet. Carptrash (talk) 17:00, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

I did just find this discussion: Bob Marlowe; (who is writing this):

Hipparchus (about 125 B.C.) – Archibald Garner

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) – Djey el Djey

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) – Gordon Newell

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) – Arnold Foerster

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) – George Stanley (also created the Oscar)

John Herschel (1738-1822) – Roger Noble Burnham

Avatar Jeff Garner June 24, 2018 (who replies)"

Mr. Marlowe is not entirely correct on the artists and their astronomers:

Garner sculpted Copernicus, Newell sculpted Kepler. He is correct about Burnham / Herschel, and Stanley / Newton. The other two combinations I cannot confirm, having never found, in my research on the monument, any documents to identify with any certainty who did which of these two. I suspect, based on style, that Djey did Hipparchus, but I don’t know this.

So there you have . . . . .......something Carptrash (talk) 17:09, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

@Carptrash: That's SUPER! Thanks. == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 17:30, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

@Carptrash: Your guess that Djey did Hipparchus is likely right. According to multiple sources, Garner reserved Copernicus for himself. == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 13:06, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Hey hello @BoringHistoryGuy: and everybody -- I can throw in scraps of information. According to the Los Angeles Times of June 3, 1934: "The sculptors are Archibald Garner, who designed the monument; Roger Noble Burnham, Djey El Djey, Gordon Newell, George Stanley and Arnold Foerster, this last sculptor being responsible for the delicate engineering entailed in pouring a forty-foot concrete shaft." Arnold Foerster (1878-1943) is unfortunately not the concrete specialist that sentence suggests. He was a Viennese import, occasional sculptor, whose best-known work is the much-abused bronze of Beethoven in Pershing Square.

The New Deal in southern California got a lot done, but sometimes its attributions are loosey-goosey or just plain missing. Here's an excellent resource [1] which covers the obelisk, confirms that Foerster did some engineering, but doesn't give the who-did-who details we're looking for. --Lockley (talk) 17:43, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

@Carptrash and Lockley: Hey, guys. There are still some loose ends on specific locations of works. Walt, I thought you might grin at the Lowry Memorial Fountain (in Honolulu, NOT Philadelphia). There's got to be a PD image of Burnham, but I haven't found one yet. == BoringHistoryGuy (talk) 18:51, 29 March 2021 (UTC)