Artwork Details
- Title
- Night
- Artist
- Edward Stauch (1830 – ?)
- Year
- 1872; relocated 1980
- Location
- Horticulture Center grounds (Belmont Avenue and North Horticultural Drive, West Fairmount Park)
- Medium
- Bronze, on brick base
- Dimensions
- Height 5'8″, width 1'11", depth 1'8" (base height 2'4", width 6'6", depth 6'6")
Artwork Description
This allegorical bronze cast by local foundry Robert Wood & Co. depicts descending nightfall as a shrouded woman. It was the first gift to Association for Public Art (then known as Fairmount Park Art Association), with funds contributed by Trustee Edwin N. Benson. Presented to the Fairmount Park Commission in 1872, the sculpture was originally located on George’s Hill in West Fairmount Park on a 5′ granite base. It was relocated to its current location in 1980.
Edward Stauch was born in Germany circa 1830 and worked in Philadelphia between 1855 and 1870. Other sculptures attributed to him in Philadelphia are at the American Philosophical Society and the German Society of Pennsylvania.
Artwork Credits
Acquired by Association for Public Art (formerly Fairmount Park Art Association)
Owned by the City of Philadelphia
Artwork Media
Museum Without Walls
Voices:
MICHAEL STAUCH is the great-great-grandson of the artist, Edward Stauch. He is the Director of Music at Atonement Lutheran Church in Asbury Park, and wrote the song “Grandfather’s Statue, Nocturne.”
CHARLES E. MATHER III (1934-2020) was the longest-serving president of the Association for Public Art, formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association.
STEPHEN C. LAYNE is a contemporary artist and sculptor working in Philadelphia. He is an instructor in figure modeling, drawing and anatomy at Fleisher Art Memorial.
HARDY VON AUENMUELLER is the Chairman of the German Society of Philadelphia. He was born in Saxony, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1959.
Producer: John DeLore