SENTINEL

Theodore Roszak’s abstract sculpture ‘Sentinel’ stands on 1st Avenue opposite Bellevue Hospital, next to the Public Health Laboratories.

Theodore Roszak (May 1, 1907 – September 2, 1981) was an American sculptor and painter. He was born in Posen, Prussia (German Empire), now Poznań, Poland, as a son of Polish parents, and emigrated to the United States at the age of two. From 1925 to 1926 he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, In 1930 he won the Logan Medal of the Arts, then moved to New York City to take classes at the National Academy of Design with George Luks and at Columbia University, where he studied logic and philosophy before going back to Chicagoto teach at the Art Institute. He taught at Sarah Lawrence College throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He was a participating artist at the documenta II in Kassel1959 and at the Venice Biennale in 1960. Roszak’s sculpture, at first closer toConstructivism and displaying an industrial aesthetic, changed after around 1946 to a more expressionistic style. Roszak was also an accomplished violinist, and liked to use musical references in his artworks. Roszak died in New York City, where he lived. fotopedia

I dunno. It looks bleak and reminiscent of the art you see in the old Soviet traditions. A plaque says it’s “conceived in homage to those intrepid men and women who dedicate themselves to science and humanity.”

11/26/12