In classical mythology, Ulysses wanders in the Mediterranean for 10 years before reaching his home. Some of the magic of the Ulysses tale is captured in David von Schlegell’s fountain sculpture at the Federal courthouse and office complex. Commissioned as part of the Art in Architecture Program of the General Services Administration, Voyage to Ulysses was dedicated at the same time as the murals by Charles Searles (Celebration) and Al Held.
Von Schlegell worked as an aviation engineer and in an architectural firm before turning to painting and sculpture. For the plaza on 6th Street, he decided not to compete with the scale of the government buildings. Instead, he worked on a more human scale, and his design features diagonal lines to counter the verticality of the architecture. In basic shape Voyage of Ulysses resembles a sail, but its appearance varies from difference perspectives. Hydraulic engineers helped the artist produce dramatic effects with the water that tumbles against and through the sculpture.
Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).
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This artwork is part of the Around Old City tour
