Located close to The Pasture in downtown Toronto is another public art installation depicting 2 humpback whales. The piece is located at 121 King Street West and called Megaptera.
Georg Schmerholzv was commissioned to create the installation for The Standard Life Assurance Company’s headquarters in Toronto.
The sculpture is approximately 8 feet tall and shows a female humpback whale with her calf. It was carved from a single piece of granite (from Quebec) and was installed and dedicated on May 18th, 1993.
According to the artist’s website, Megaptera is the scientific name for humpback whales and translates into Great Wings. This particular piece took 2 years to complete.
Interestingly, Georg Schmerholz was born in Transylvania, and had a very interesting journey escaping communism back in the 1980s. You can read more about that on his website: http://www.schmerholz.com/bio/
Personally, I find this the least impressive of all the Financial District public art installations involving animals. It is not the piece itself, as it is extremely impressive close up. What I struggle with is the location and the manner in which the piece is situated.
The sculpture is set back a little from the sidewalk, straddling a walkway, but also somewhat far from the building for which it was commissioned. As well, the whales are facing away from the street, while the plaque on the piece is facing towards the street. Odd…
What do you think of the piece? I’d love to see any shots you have of it! I’d also appreciate hearing what you liked about about this post!
If you have not ready my other blogs in this series about public art installations in the Financial District, please take a few minutes and check them out.
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