Angels on High: Márton Váró's Limestone Angels on the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, TexasMartón Váró's imposing twin angels emerge dramatically from the façade of the Bass Performance Hall to herald the performing arts. Approximately forty-eight feet tall, the angels are several times larger than life. Of the same limestone as the building, they are inseparable from it. These glorious beings are depicted just at the moment they are touching Earth, gliding on the last little bit of lift from their extended wings. Each angel hovers above the street, weightless and serene in flowing garments. Each one leans her torso, arms, and head slightly away from the background wall to play a golden trumpet high above the street. With a gesture that reinforces the trumpeting, each angel raises an arm toward the sky. The angels have quickly become symbols of Fort Worth as valid and commanding as the city's "cowtown" heritage. The carving and installation of such large high-relief sculptures was a daunting artistic and technical challenge. Váró carved three sets of smaller angels in preparation for work on the actual sculptures. Limestone for the works was quarried near Austin, Texas, and transported to Irvine, California, where Váró carved the works in large numbered blocks. The delicate carving of the wings was done in Fort Worth. Engineers from Curtain Wall Design calculated the exact dimensions needed for each block and designed lifting devices for each. A crew of ironworkers and stonemasons installed the angels under Váró's supervision. Steel plates were embedded in the concrete walls to support the angels, and each carved block is permanently attached to a corresponding plate so that no block rests on the one below. This design transfers the weight of the sculpture to the building. Informal photographs by Váró and others record the creation of the angels from quarrying of the limestone through the initial carving of the blocks. Rodger Mallison recorded the installation process almost daily. The result is a superb photographic chronicle of a major artistic project. |
Contents
The Angels in the Context of Public Sculpture | 1 |
Rodger Mallisons Photographs | 18 |
The Artists Biography | 61 |
Copyright | |
Common terms and phrases
Ann and Malcolm architectural arm block artist Bass Hall BASS PERFORMANCE HALL block 25 Budapest carve the angels carve the wings carving process carving rack Cedar Park completed course of blocks design team drapery east angel eastern angel facade figures Finland Fort Worth full-scale blocks full-size HALL PERRY Hall's Hungary City Hungary Debrecen installation internal structure Irvine Italy Judy Alter Justin LEE AND PERRY Linbeck lowest block Malcolm Louden maquette Márton Váró Márton Váró's angels MÁRTON VÁRÓ'S LIMESTONE MÁRTON VÁRÓ'S PHOTO massive block Museum NANCY LEE numbered Performing Arts public sculpture quarry in Cedar removed Rodger Mallison Romania Schwarz sculptor began sculptor refines sculptural project select the sculptor SELECTIONS FROM MÁRTON stone blocks stonemason Studio symmetrical angels TCU Press Texas THINK SAFETY torso trumpet uncarved blocks UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN upper arm Váró carved VÁRÓ'S LIMESTONE ANGELS VÁRÓ'S PHOTO JOURNAL viewers visiting the quarry west angel Worth to carve