Archibald Garner

American sculptor (1904–1969)
Archibald Garner
Archie Garner, Long Beach Polytechnic yearbook (1922)
Born(1904-02-24)February 24, 1904
DiedMay 7, 1969(1969-05-07) (aged 65)

Lorraine Archibald “Archie” Garner (February 24, 1904 – May 7, 1969) was an American sculptor.[1]

During the New Deal he was commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project and Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture to create several notable works of art for public buildings, all within the state of California.

  • Astronomers Monument at Griffith Observatory,[2] commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), was Garner's design, and he was one of the six contributing sculptors.[3] The monument honoring Hipparchus, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Herschel, was dedicated in November 25, 1934.[4][5] A casting of the face of Garner’s Copernicus is at the Clark Library.[6]
  • Law at the Spring Street Courthouse (formerly a federal courthouse, now superior court) in downtown Los Angeles is an 8 ft (2.4 m) tall limestone sculpture.[7][8][9] Law, or The Law, was originally produced under the auspices of PWAP. [10]
  • Justice is a 10 ft (3.0 m) tall cast-concrete relief sculpture at the 1939 main post office and courthouse (later downtown station post office, now Fresno Unified School District headquarters) on Tulare Street in Fresno.[11][12][13][14][15]
  • Garner designed and carved the mahogany relief depicting the history of Centinela Springs for the Inglewood, California, post office.[11][16]
Armillary sphere atop Astronomers Monument by Archibald Garner and company, Griffith Park, Los Angeles
  • The Transportation of the Mail reliefs for the downtown San Diego post office building are the only federally funded New Deal sculpture in that city. The terra cotta reliefs depict “a train, a ship, an airplane, and a car, are placed over the windows at the front entrance. An inscription placed in the frieze carried by the pilasters of the front elevation reads, ‘Through science and the toil of patient men, the nation's thoughts traverse the land, sea, and air.’”[17][18]

Garner, who was born in Fresno, California,[19] also helped design the original Dennis the Menace Playground, did set design work for movie studios, and taught at Monterey Peninsula College and Occidental College.[20]

References

  1. ^ Garner, Jeff. "LORRAINE ARCHIBALD GARNER: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH". www.ququ2.net. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  2. ^ "L. Archibald Garner, Roger Noble Burnham, George Stanley, Gordon Newell, Djey el Djey, Arnold Foerster, Astronomer's Monument, Los Angeles". www.publicartinla.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  3. ^ "Oral history interview with Henry Lion, 1964". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  4. ^ Observatory in Griffith Park, 1937, archived from the original on 2022-10-11, retrieved 2022-10-11
  5. ^ "Griffith Observatory". researchworks.oclc.org. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  6. ^ Marschall, Rebecca Fenning (2010-08-03). "Item of the Week: Copernicus & the Echo Park Artists". Clark Library. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  7. ^ "GSA Fine Arts Building 22". GSA Fine Arts Collection. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  8. ^ "Young Lincoln Statue (and Law Statue)". Los Angeles Explorers Guild. 2022-01-05. Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  9. ^ "Spring Street Courthouse Self-Guided Tour Brochure" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  10. ^ Millier, Arthur (1934-03-11). "Federal Art Exhibition on Today as Museum Reopens: Public Works show of Paintings Sculpture Called Southland Renaissance; Two Weeks Display". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. ProQuest 163195140.
  11. ^ a b "culturenow.org: Centinela Springs (1937)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  12. ^ "Post Office (former): Garner Bas Relief - Fresno CA". Living New Deal. Archived from the original on 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  13. ^ Park, Marlene (1984). Democratic vistas : post offices and public art in the New Deal. Gerald E. Markowitz. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 0-87722-348-3. OCLC 10877506. Archived from the original on 2022-01-09. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  14. ^ Stiles, Elaine B. (2018). "New Deal Fresno Walking Tour and Guide" (PDF). City of Fresno Historic Preservation Program. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-08-29. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  15. ^ Castellon, David (2018-09-20). "Downtown Fresno post office has a new home". The Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  16. ^ Gnerre, Sam (2022-09-26). "South Bay history: WPA art works have enlivened the Inglewood post office since the 1930s". Daily Breeze. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  17. ^ "NHRP Nomination Form: U.S. Post Office, Downtown San Diego Station". 1984-11-21. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  18. ^ Schulte, Richard (2015-03-04). "Art Deco car, train, ship and plane on Post Office". Cool San Diego Sights!. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  19. ^ “Federal Building Art Selected: James Hansen and Archibald Garner Get Contracts for Figures." Los Angeles Times (1923-1995), Aug 31, 1939, pp. 1.
  20. ^ Arnold, Mark (2017). Pocket Full of Dennis the Menace. BearManor Media. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Archibald Garner.