"Government of the People" --Jacques Lipchitz

Installation of the Government of the People

Jacques Lipchitz, one of the most acclaimed and innovative abstract sculptors of the twentieth century, was commissioned by the City of Philadelphia to create public art pieces that would go on to become a significant part of the city’s notable outdoor sculptures.  One of the pieces, Government of the People, would be one of the artist’s most popular and controversial pieces in the United States. The Government of the People was Lipchitz last public commission in the United States. The statue was created in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was installed in 1976 and was placed on the corner of Broad Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard at Municipal Services Building Plaza, opposite of City Hall. The sculpture itself stands over forty-five high in the plaza made of bronze with a granite base.  According to Lipchitz, the sculpture depicts a family (father, mother, two children) supporting a young couple at the top, which is to symbolize the hope for the future. Also at the top of the sculpture, the couple holds a banner that has the seal of the city of Philadelphia. Included with the sculpture is an inscription which states: “symbolizing family life “the wellspring of society, the hope of the future” and the concept of government being of, by, and for the people, this sculpture is dedicated to the people of Philadelphia.” The public, for the most part, was in favor of the piece since it depicted a positive message of hope and success for the future. Even though many Philadelphians were in favor of Government of the People, the sculpture did come with some controversy.

Controversy:

Article : Controversy between Mayor Rizzo and FPAA

The Government of the People is also Lipchitz’s most controversial piece in the United States. The sculpture coincidently looms over a realistic statue of Mayor Frank Rizzo who bitterly opposed its placement in Philadelphia. The mayor at the time, Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, was not a fan of the piece and stopped funding the project during its installment.  Supporters of this piece like the Fairmount Park Art Association, led by R. Sturgis Ingersoll, stepped in and fought for the complete installation of the sculpture. Almost nine years later, they succeeded in having the work on public view in time for the nation's Bicentennial in 1976. Complete story can be seen at: http://libproxy.temple.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=vth&AN=26276571&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Why destroy it?

I feel as though the piece is one big depiction of irony. The piece is supposed to be of hope and strength of the people. But if you look at the sculpture, all you see is people “squished” and crushed against each other. A piece that is suppose to depict a people powerful enough to pursue the future, oddly has the people smashed together to the point where one would say they are stifled and constricted. The piece reminds me of the phrase “crabs in barrel” where there is no room for the growth and hope for the people of Philadelphia. With the amount of people in the sculpture and the way they are orientated would make an observer believe that the people are hopeless and stuck; the opposite of the meaning Jacques Lipchitz gave to the piece.

Government of the People put in place

The inscription for the Government of the People states that the concept of the sculpture is of “government being of, by, and for the people”.  But if the general concept of the piece is depicting a government of the people, then why are the people in the piece all kneeling and in mangled orientations? For the piece that is supposed to be uplifting for the people of Philadelphia, I again find it ironic that the people are in positions that are usually symbolized restraint, conformity, and pain.  In the piece, you see no faces, no people standing upright and no sense of strength that would expect to see in a people who have a “bright future”. Instead, the people in the sculpture look like they are hiding from something, or holding each other back from something. At first glance, I believed this piece was a depiction of some type of fear or anguish. Once I read the inscription and the background information, I was very confused on the ideas Jacques Lipchitz was trying to project in the piece.

Public Art in Film:

The placement of public art in film has always played a major part in the symbolism and meanings the director tries to get across to their audience. Film is all about imagery, and even though the audience may not know the background history of a piece, public art has always been a great way to set the mood of a scene, and place a story in a certain location. It is crucial that the right pieces are used during filming in order to get the right point across to everyone watching. Like in the case of Government of the People, my interpretation of a scene may be entirely different from one of a Philadelphian who knows of history of the piece based solely off the look of the piece in the film.