Creation Date

Sculpture creation date: 1974-1975

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Description

Black and white photograph of a tall wooden column with a carved head on top, standing on a base encircled by rounded forms in a marshy clearing at the Langlais Art Preserve in Cushing, Maine. The artwork, entitled “Ford with Gourds (#67)” by sculptor Bernard “Blackie” Langlais, was created between 1974 and 1975 from wood and installed outdoors at the Langlais Art Preserve, the former property of Bernard and Helen Friend Langlais. The sculpture presents a stylized portrait of President Gerald Ford as an elongated, upright figure carved from a single log; the body is a smooth, narrow shaft that rises well above the surrounding brush, topped by a small, simply modeled head with minimal facial detail. At the base of the figure, a cluster of rounded, gourd-like wooden forms rest on a rough cylindrical pedestal, visually grounding the tall column. The piece stands at the edge of a pond fringed with cattails and reeds, and reflections of the sculpture appear faintly in the water in the foreground, while additional vertical sculptures and a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees fill the background. 1994. Unidentified, photographer. (See p16252-p16254, p16959-p16975) (See also NA4654.)(NA4800.)

Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) (1990-1995) was a nationwide survey that ran from 1990-1995 documenting America’s outdoor sculpture. Established in 1990, SOS! helped educate local communities about America’s endangered sculptural heritage. The Maine Arts Commission was one of 106 organizations to participate in this survey.

Topic

Folk art, Sculpture

Collection

MF161

Series Number

NA4800

Identifier

p16972

Rights and Access Note

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for non-commercial uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). For more information, contact Special Collections.

Existence and Location of Originals

Located at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress: AFC 2012/047 https://lccn.loc.gov/2013655211.

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Keywords

Save Outdoor Sculpture

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Rights Statement

In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted