Waylande Gregory

WAYLANDE GREGORY (1905 - 1971); Female Electron with Lightning Bolt from the Fountain of the Atom, ca. 1938; Glazed earthenware; Unmarked; 46 1/2" x 30" x 20"; Located on the Bowling Green Plaza by the newly renovated subway entrance and in front of the Contemporary Arts Building, Waylande Gregory's "Fountain of the Atom" was hard to miss or forget. It was Gregory's most famous work at the 1939 New York World's Fair, and probably the most memorable work of his career. The Fountain was constructed of a steel frame and glass bricks. It consisted of a bluish green pool 65 feet in diameter. Above it were two concentric circular tiers, or 'terraces' as Gregory called them, the first wider than the second. On the first terrace were eight "Electrons" composed of four male and four female terra cotta figures, each about 48 inches high, These represented the valence electrons of the atom. Above them, on the narrower terrace were four "ton sized" " Elements," the female "Earth" (now in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum) and "Fire," and the male "Air" and "Water" (now in the collection of the Cranbrook Museum). Streams of water constantly tumbled down the glass blocks, and a colorful flame burned at the top.; Provenance: Private Collection, New York.; Estate of the artist.; Exhibited: New York World's Fair 1939-40; Anderson and Perry," The Diversions of Keramos, American Clay Sculpture 1925-1950," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY, September 9- November 27, 1983, and traveling to the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, February 18- April 15, 1984; Illustrated: "World's Fair, Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! They Will Lurk at Every Turn. These Little Savages are Electrons." Life Magazine, no. 11 (March 13, 1939), p. 37; "The Octet Theory of the Atom in Terra Cotta: The Fountain of the Atom at the New York World's Fair," Illustrated London News, April 29, 1939, p. 719

Glazed porcelain sculpture of a reclining nude, USA, 1930s; Signed; 6 1/4" x 11 1/2" x 4 1/2" Note: One of two Gregory figures included in the 1937 Everson Museum Annual of America