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Greater Charleston West Virginia Public Art Tour

Zone 5 of 7: Davis Park

You are viewing item 26 of 46 in this tour.

This is a contributing entry for Greater Charleston West Virginia Public Art Tour and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.
Man Wrest from the Earth Its Natural Resources to Build Pathways to the Stars is a bronze work by Milton Horn. Horn was commissioned to create the piece for the National Bank of Commerce. The work was created concurrently with the construction of the bank's new building in 1968. The large-scale sculptural piece depicts a nude classically styled figure standing in what appears to be the mouth of a cave. The title suggests this image is a glorification of industry and development. Stylistic and thematic parallels exist between this work and Robert Erle Marten's nearby From the Fullness of the Earth, suggesting that Horn was familiar with Marten's statue. Horn was known as a sculptor of public works, another example in West Virginia being the History of Medicine Marbles at West Virginia University.

Man Wrest from the Earth Its Natural Resources to Build Pathways to the Stars.

Sculpture, Relief, Artifact, Art

Heise, Kenan. MILTON HORN, 88, A `POET' OF SCULPTURE, Chicago Tribune. April 5th 1995. Accessed December 15th 2020. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-04-05-9504050035-story.html.

"Milton Horn, 88, A Sculptor Known For Public Artworks." The New York Times (New York) April 7th 1995. B sec, 8-8.

National Bank of Commerce, The West Virginia Encyclopedia. October 21st 2010. Accessed December 15th 2020. https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1559.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Office of Public Art, Charleston WV. Accessed December 15, 2020. https://gisweb.cityofcharleston.org/storymaps/arttour/#.