(p. A3) WASHINGTON–They span 75 feet, weigh 4,300 pounds and can’t move.
The four, black aluminum clouds comprising the once-mobile component of “Mountains and Clouds”–one of the final works of sculptor Alexander Calder, which dominates the Hart Senate office building’s 90-foot-high atrium–haven’t drifted for more than a decade. They once rotated at a gentle speed, but have been frozen in place for years after a bearing failed.
. . .
, , , , mirroring the mixed feelings toward Mr. Calder’s sculpture, many in Washington didn’t appreciate the contemporary Hart building’s break with traditional architecture. In 1981, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D., N.Y.) suggested in a “sense of the Senate” resolution that the plastic covering that had protected the building from wintry elements was preferable to the exterior itself.
“Whereas the plastic cover has now been removed revealing, as feared, a building whose banality is exceeded only by its expense,” said the resolution, which never came to a vote. “Therefore, be it resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the plastic cover be put back.”
For the full story, see:
KRISTINA PETERSON. “A Nebulous Debate in Washington.” The Wall Street Journal (Fri., Dec. 26, 2014): A3.
(Note: ellipses are added.)
(Note: the online version of the story has the date Dec. 25, 2014, and has the title “Calder Sculpture Triggers Heavenly Debate in Washington.”)