Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden

Sculpture of Frank Murphy (photo by Steven Chavez)

The Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden is located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. The garden consists of more than five acres and holds more than 70 sculptures. Sculptures include works from artists such as Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Anthony Caro, Jacques Lipchitz, Henri Matisse, Isamu Noguchi, Auguste Rodin, and David Smith.

Button Flower by Alexander Calder
(photo by Steven Chavez)

Halfway by Anthony Caro (photo by Steven Chavez)

The idea for the garden began in 1960 by UCLA Chancellor Franklin Murphy. Murphy, a philanthropist who studied plazas and gardens during his travels to Europe, believed that art was most pleasurable when experienced daily. A 5 acre parking lot surrounded by college buildings on the north end of the UCLA campus -- became the site for fulfilling his vision of creating a public sculpture garden that would be enjoyed as part of everyday life on the university.

Landscape architect Ralph D. Cornell, who served as UCLA's supervising landscape architect from 1934 to 1972, was commissioned to design the garden that opened in 1967. Cornell designed a tripartite plan that includes an allee of South African coral trees, a formal brick plaza, and an informal lawn with curvilinear paths that weave the garden and surrounding buildings together. Multiple seating areas include open seating -- such as linear benches, as well as private seating areas composed of tucked alcoves.

Allee of Coral Trees (photo by Steven Chavez)

Central Lawn with Curvilinear Path (photo by Steven Chavez)

Linear Seating in Allee (photo by Steven Chavez)

Seating Alcove (photo by Steven Chavez)

Cornell also included a diverse palette of plants. He combined Murphy's idea of space with the characteristic plantings of Southern California. Eucalyptus, California sycamores and Brazilian jacarandas were included in Cornell's plant selections.

Landscape construction and design qualities are evident throughout the garden. Like sculpture, the landscape installation exhibits a high degree of skill and craftsmanship. Seating alcoves are formed with sculptural shapes, and the plaza is skillfully inlaid with brick paving. The garden's proportion is exceptional -- and is the common thread that makes visiting the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden rewarding both visually and experientially.

Two Running Violet V Forms

Two Running Violet V Forms (photo by Steven Chavez)

Artist Robert Irwin's Two Running Violet V Forms were installed in 1983 on the campus of the University of California San Diego. They are in a eucalyptus grove with several walking paths that connect different areas of the university. The artwork is Irwin's first permanent installation in California and is part of the Stuart Collection, which includes works by several artists that are placed throughout the UC San Diego campus.    

Initially the artwork can be ambiguous. The violet panels appear as geometrical man-made forms placed in contrast to a naturally occurring landscape. This is conveyed by the visual contrasts between the synthetic materials of the panels, and the natural unevenness seen in the trunks, branches and leaves of the trees. However, the eucalyptus trees are not native to the region and were planted like the panels in a geometrical grid pattern. The artwork ultimately aids in revealing that both the panels and the trees are results of man-made environmental interventions.

Light also plays a role in the artwork. The panels are flecked when the sun is filtered through the eucalyptus leaves, and appear transparent when unfiltered perpendicular light reaches them. On cloudy days, the panels gain density and are a concentrated blue-violet.

Flecked with Light (photo by Steven Chavez)

Nearly Transparent (photo by Steven Chavez)

Saturated in Color (photo by Steven Chavez)

The two running forms are inserted into the grove in V-shapes and are carried by twenty five feet tall stainless steel posts. The screens are made of blue-violet plastic coated tight gauged chain link fencing. They are placed at a constant elevation, which differentiates the gently sloping terrain beneath them. Magenta flowering iceplant is planted linearly along the dripline of the panels.

V-Formed Panels (photo by Steven Chavez)

The artwork is viewed by path users that cross the grove to reach their campus destinations. The panels are never obstructions for walkers as they are placed high above the ground. Their occurrence provides a continually shifting display of visual interest that ranges from their near disappearance to their robust stripes of running color.