“The Birth of Venus”
In the 1950s, fine arts professor Robert Laurent went on sabbatical leave two times to Rome in order to build “The Birth of Venus” and shipped Venus and the five dolphins that now sit in Showalter Fountain back to the U.S. via boat.
In doing this, Laurent was influenced by famous Italian artists such as Botticelli and also utilized an Italian bronze-casting technique in the creation of the piece.
Despite its ancient origins in Greek mythology, Laurent’s piece proved to be too provocative for many.
“People thought that having a big naked woman in the middle of campus was pretty risky in the ’50s when they put it up,” IU Campus Art Coordinator Sherry Rouse said.
Herman B Wells ?Memorial Statue
What could be more lighthearted than a statue of the beloved Wells? Just look under the brim of his hat.
The artist, Tuck Langland, did his undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota. So, when he created the statue, he included a hidden inscription.
On the underside of the brim of Wells’ hat is the inscription “IU vs Minnesota Oct 12 2000. Go ?Gophers.”
“Peau Rouge Indiana”
When translated, the name of this piece becomes “Indiana red skin,” which artist Alexander Calder intended as a jab at the state of Indiana.
“He named it that to poke fun at the (idea of the) Indiana red skin, because we don’t have any Native Americans here anymore,” Rouse said. “So we decided, when it got here, to keep it in French so nobody would really know that he was making fun of us.”
According to an IU press release from 2008, in the 1980s then-IU President John Ryan sent a plane to pick up paint for the sculpture, which was in the process of being restored.
A dinner was scheduled at the Musical Arts Center before the Oaken Bucket game and the primer on the statue was too close to Purdue gold for Ryan’s comfort.
“Indiana Arc”
Built to honor former IU President Thomas Ehrlich and his wife Ellen, “Indiana Arc” uses an equilateral triangle as the basis for its shape, the same shape upon which architect I.M. Pei based the IU Art Museum, Rouse said.
According to his Web site, the “Indiana Arc” falls in line with most of Charles O. Perry’s works. He often blends the complexities of math and science with the beauty and grace of art.
Perry’s modern views on art were not always appreciated within the Bloomington ?community.
“Any thing that’s as modern as “Peau Rouge Indiana” or the “Indiana Arc” had many critics., and yet, now, they have become quite beloved,” Rouse said.
