At A Glance
An Art Nouveau-style bronze sundial atop a sculpted limestone base representing the four seasons
Spring holds a rose; Summer carries poppies; Autumn wears grapes in her hair; and Winter has a pine branch
Alexander Stirling Calder is also responsible for Swann Memorial Fountain and the Shakespeare Memorial on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Please check the hours for the Horticulture Center grounds before your visit
This Art Nouveau-style sundial sits atop a sculpted limestone base representing the four seasons. Spring holds a rose; Summer carries poppies; Autumn wears grapes in her hair; and Winter has a pine branch. Each season foresees the next by turning her head while holding an apple bough aloft, suggesting nature’s bounty. The signs of the zodiac surround the bronze dial.
Sundial was given to the park by the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art). Alexander Stirling Calder, the second of three generations of the famed family of sculptors, is also responsible for the Swann Memorial Fountain and the Shakespeare Memorial, both in Logan Square.
Voices heard in the Museum Without Walls: AUDIO program: Jed Perl is the art critic for The New Republic and a former contributing editor at Vogue. He recently published the first biography of Alexander “Sandy” Calder, Alexander Stirling Calder’s son. Susan Kay Weiler is a landscape architect and partner at OLIN. She is a prolific designer, educator, speaker and writer and serves on the Board of the Association for Public Art. | Segment Producer: Rachel James
Museum Without Walls: AUDIO is the Association for Public Art’s award-winning audio program for Philadelphia’s outdoor sculpture. Available for free by phone, mobile app, or online, the program features more than 150 voices from all walks of life – artists, educators, civic leaders, historians, and those with personal connections to the artworks.
RESOURCES:
This artwork is part of the Around the Horticulture Center tour
