A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
From Mesopotamia to the Nebraska State Capitol: Assyrian Revival and New American Meanings
In 1929, the year after architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's new State Capitol at Lincoln NE opened to the public, the Nebraska-based journal the Prairie Schooner published a seven-page poem by a certain Rosemonde E. Richards, called simply 'The Nebraska State Capitol'. In striking ecstatic ekphrasis the poet indicated her appreciation for the building's cutting-edge modern design, a towering skyscraper rising from the prairies, and for its elaborately planned sculptural program celebrating the state, the family, agriculture and the sublime. Although Assyrian elements are only one among many of the Nebraska State Capitol's eclectic influences, Assyrianisms are worth narrowing in on because their presence in that building should be significant to both ancient historians and scholars of modern art and architecture. In this article I will discuss the history of the Nebraska State Capitol's design and the reaction to its 'new style'. I will then consider each of the building's most notable 'Assyrianisms' in works by sculptor Lee Lawrie and muralist Hildreth Meiere.3 Finally I will trace some ways in which the Capitol's engagement with Assyrian imagery would be echoed in other buildings and imagery of the 1930s, and investigate the relationships between sculptors and designers and academics and academic institutions.
From Mesopotamia to the Nebraska State Capitol: Assyrian Revival and New American Meanings
In 1929, the year after architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's new State Capitol at Lincoln NE opened to the public, the Nebraska-based journal the Prairie Schooner published a seven-page poem by a certain Rosemonde E. Richards, called simply 'The Nebraska State Capitol'. In striking ecstatic ekphrasis the poet indicated her appreciation for the building's cutting-edge modern design, a towering skyscraper rising from the prairies, and for its elaborately planned sculptural program celebrating the state, the family, agriculture and the sublime. Although Assyrian elements are only one among many of the Nebraska State Capitol's eclectic influences, Assyrianisms are worth narrowing in on because their presence in that building should be significant to both ancient historians and scholars of modern art and architecture. In this article I will discuss the history of the Nebraska State Capitol's design and the reaction to its 'new style'. I will then consider each of the building's most notable 'Assyrianisms' in works by sculptor Lee Lawrie and muralist Hildreth Meiere.3 Finally I will trace some ways in which the Capitol's engagement with Assyrian imagery would be echoed in other buildings and imagery of the 1930s, and investigate the relationships between sculptors and designers and academics and academic institutions.
From Mesopotamia to the Nebraska State Capitol: Assyrian Revival and New American Meanings
Miller, ER (author)
2020-04-01
Sculpture Journal , 29 (1) pp. 65-93. (2020)
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
DDC:
720
Political Meanings of the American State Capitol
| British Library Online Contents | 1993
Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th–7th centuries BC)
| Online Contents | 2000
Heavy foundations on sand rock Nebraska capitol
| Engineering Index Backfile | 1925
| Wiley | 2017
Assyrian Cities and Architecture
| Wiley | 2017