Oskar J. W. Hansen

American sculptor

Memorial at Hoover Dam, commemorating 112 deaths during its construction. Inscription: *They died to make the desert bloom*^[1]

Oskar J. W. Hansen (March 12, 1892^[2] – August 31, 1971^[3]) was a Norwegian-born, naturalized American sculptor. He is most associated with the design of many of the sculptures on and around the Hoover Dam.^[3]^[4]

Biography

Oskar Johan Waldemar Hansen was born at Langenes in Øksnes, Nordland, Norway. Before coming to America, he served as a merchant seaman. He later served in the United States Army. In the late 1930s or early 1940s, Hansen built a home and artist's studio on property near Ashcroft outside Charlottesville, Virginia.^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

Selected works

Wings of the Republic - among numerous examples of his sculpture in Art Deco mode commissioned by the US Bureau of Reclamation, executed under the Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, supervising architect to the Bureau at Hoover Dam.^[7]
Wings - installed in the lobby of the Rand Tower, Minneapolis, completed in 1929.^[8]
Liberty - installed in 1957 atop a column replaced one that had been struck by lightning in 1942 at the Yorktown, Virginia, Victory Monument, commemorating the 1781 victory at Yorktown and the alliance with France that brought about the end of the American Revolution and the resulting peace with England.^[9]

Gallery

Winged Figures of the Republic - Nevada side of Hoover Dam
Winged Figures of the Republic - Nevada side of Hoover Dam
Wings - main lobby of the Rand Tower in Minneapolis, MN

Related Writings

Beyond the Cherubim (1964)
Sculptures at Hoover Dam (1960)

References

^ "Bureau of Reclamation: Lower Colorado Region - Hoover Dam: Artwork". Archived from the original on 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Bureau of Reclamation: "Artwork"
^ "Oskar Hansen". Retrieved December 25, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Oskar Hansen, 79, ‘Liberty’ Sculptor, Obituary, New York Times, September 3, 1971.
^ ^a ^b Biography of Oskar J. W. Hansen (pakalahau.wordpress)
^ La Maison Eternelle—Oskar Hansen’s Pantops Home (Kris Bean. Ashcroft News. Vol. II, No. 3 September, 2007)
^ Oskar J. W. Hansen (liveauctioneers)
^ "Modernity and the Hoover Dam".
^ Historic Rand Tower (Paradigm)
^ Yorktown Victory Monument, Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum^{[dead link]}