View source for Oskar J. W. Hansen

{{Short description|American sculptor}}
[[File:HansenHooverMemorial.jpg|thumb|300 px|Memorial at [[Hoover Dam]], commemorating 112 deaths during its construction. Inscription: ''They died to make the desert bloom''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/History/essays/artwork.html |title=Bureau of Reclamation: Lower Colorado Region - Hoover Dam: Artwork |accessdate=2010-10-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623012044/http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/History/essays/artwork.html |archivedate=2010-06-23 }} Bureau of Reclamation: "Artwork"</ref>]]
'''Oskar J. W. Hansen''' (March 12, 1892<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fold3.com/record/24149791/social-security-death-index-oskar-hansen|title=Oskar Hansen|access-date=December 25, 2020}}</ref> – August 31, 1971<ref name="NYT 1971-09-03">[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/03/archives/oskar-hansen-79-liberty-sculptor.html Oskar Hansen, 79, ‘Liberty’ Sculptor], Obituary, New York Times, September 3, 1971.</ref>) was a [[Norway|Norwegian]]-born, naturalized [[United States|American]] sculptor. He is most associated with the design of many of the sculptures on and around the [[Hoover Dam]], most notably ''[[Winged Figures of the Republic]]''.<ref name="NYT 1971-09-03" /><ref name="pakalahau">[https://pakalahau.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/2012-oskar-hansens-precession-design-of-mayan-star-map-hoover-dam-part-i/ ''Biography of Oskar J. W. Hansen'' (pakalahau.wordpress)]</ref>
==Biography==
Oskar Johan Waldemar Hansen was born in the parish of [[Langenes Municipality|Langenes]] in [[Øksnes Municipality]], [[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, Virginia|Ashcroft]] outside [[Charlottesville, Virginia]].<ref name="pakalahau" /><ref>[http://www.ashcroftnews.com/sites/updates/7463/tn/1398504.pdf ''La Maison Eternelle—Oskar Hansen’s Pantops Home'' (Kris Bean. Ashcroft News. Vol. II, No. 3 September, 2007)]</ref>
<ref>[https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/13577802_oskar-j-w-hansen-norway-1892-1962-lotus-le ''Oskar J. W. Hansen'' (liveauctioneers)]</ref>
==Selected works==
*''[[Winged Figures 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]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000302095932/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA98/haven/hoover/modern.html "Modernity and the Hoover Dam"].</ref>
*''Wings'' - installed in the lobby of the [[Rand Tower]], [[Minneapolis]], completed in 1929.<ref>[http://paradigmreporting.com/facilities/historic-rand-tower/ ''Historic Rand Tower'' (Paradigm)]</ref>
*''Liberty'' - installed in 1957 atop a column replaced one that had been struck by lightning in 1942 at the [[Yorktown, Virginia]], [[Yorktown Victory Monument|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]].<ref>[http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp|session=1271U8303784U.2866&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!305055~!31&ri=1&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=richard+morris+hunt&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=1 Yorktown Victory Monument, Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum]{{Dead link|date=June 2019}}</ref>
==Gallery==
{{Gallery
|File:Art Deco Statue at Hoover Dam Winged Figures of the Republic.JPG|''Winged Figures of the Republic'' - Nevada side of Hoover Dam
|File:2006-08-17 - United States - Nevada - Hoover Dam - Angel.jpg|''Winged Figures of the Republic'' - Nevada side of Hoover Dam
|File:Wings Sculpture.jpg|''Wings'' -  main lobby of the Rand Tower in Minneapolis, MN
}}
==Related Writings==
*''Beyond the Cherubim''       (1964)
*''Sculptures at Hoover Dam''  (1960)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Related Reading==
*Hiltzik,  Michael (2010) ''Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century'' (New York: Simon and Schuster) {{ISBN|9781439181584}}
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150619042841/http://digital.library.unlv.edu/objects/pho?CISOBOX1=Hansen%2C+Oskar+J.+W.+F.%2C+1892-1971+%40LoC&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP1=exact&CISOROOT=%2Fpho University of Nevada Las Vegas digital library]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Oscar J W}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Øksnes]]
[[Category:Norwegian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American sculptors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male artists]]
[[Category:American male sculptors]]
[[Category:Art Deco sculptors]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
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