Pittsburgh, PA
Lenfest Plaza
Installed in August 2011 at a daring 60-degree diagonal position, the 51-feet high Paint Torch sculpture by Claes Oldenburg in Lenfest Plaza honors the act of painting—from the classical masters in PAFA’s museum to the students in PAFA’s School of Fine Arts. Paint Torch, commissioned by PAFA, stands on the point of its handle in a gravity-defying gesture. Nearby on the plaza floor is a six-foot high “glob” of paint, part of which the brush has lifted into the sky in a depiction of the act of painting a picture. The “glob” and “blip” at the tip of the brush are both illuminated from within at night.
Paint Torch also alludes to the history of Philadelphia through its iconographic reference to a torch, which, according to David R. Brigham, PAFA’s President and CEO, symbolizes Philadelphia’s significant role in the country’s history “as a leader of the American Revolution.” Its resemblance to a torch is also significant for functioning as PAFA’s connection to the “Museum Mile” that comprises a slew of cultural destinations along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It now literally lights the starting point for this museum trek that ends at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which coincidentally also happens to be home to another Oldenburg piece: Giant Three-Way Plug, located in the museum’s sculpture garden.