Artwork Details
- Title
- Leviathan
- Artist
- Seymour Lipton (1903-1986)
- Year
- 1963; installed 1969
- Medium
- Nickel silver on Monel metal, with granite base
- Dimensions
- Height 3'4" (base 7'10.5")
Artwork Description
Leviathan is the sea monster mentioned in the Bible, often identified with the whale or crocodile. “None is so fierce that dare stir him up,” Jehovah warns Job; “He maketh the deep to boil.” Seymor Lipton’s sculpture uses a stylized whale form to explore the primal forces of nature. The material, Monel metal (a white bronze alloy consisting of nickel, copper, iron, and manganese), was one of Lipton’s favorite media; he achieved the unusual texture by spreading molten nickel over the surface.
Leviathan was exhibited in Penn Center during the 1967 “Art for the City” project. In 1969 it was purchased through the City Planning Commission with grant funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Content on this page was adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, 1992). Bach was the longtime Executive Director of the Association for Public Art, working with the organization from 1980 to 2022.
Artwork Credits
Purchased through City Planning Commission with support from National Endowment for the Arts
Owned by the City of Philadelphia