The John B. Putnam, Jr. Memorial Collection of Sculpture is a group of outdoor sculptures distributed through the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The collection is made up of works from 20th and 21st century sculptors. In March 1968, President Robert Goheen announced that an anonymous donor gave a $1 million fund for the collection in honor of Princeton alumni John B. Putnam, Jr., Lieutenant U.S.A, who was killed in action during World War II. In 2025, this anonymous donor was revealed to be John's brother and fellow Princeton alum, the physicist, neuropsychologist and philosopher Peter Putnam. The works were selected based on a committee of alumni who are current or former directors of art museums, and the first 20 were purchased in 1969 and 1970.
The collection was first designed to have only 20 sculptures, but after receiving George Segal's Abraham and Issac, in 1979, the total catalogue increased to 21. The Princeton University Art Museum describes the collection as "not a static phenomenon" and that "work is underway to identify and purchase or commission works by artists."
List of sculptures
Original twenty The following is the twenty original sculptures before later ones were added. Name of Piece Artist ExecutedInstalledMaterial Location ImageReferences Atmosphere and Environment X Louise Nevelson 1969–19701971 Cor-Ten steel Between Nassau Street and Firestone Library Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension Antoine Pevsner 1961–19621972 Cast bronze Courtyard of Jadwin Hall Cubi XIII David Smith 19631969 Stainless steel Between McCormick Hall and Whig Hall Five Disks: One Empty Alexander Calder 1969–19701971 Painted mild steel Fine Hall Plaza Floating Figure Gaston Lachaise 19271969 Cast bronze Compton Court, Graduate College Head of a Woman Designed by Pablo Picasso; executed by Carl Nesjar19711971 Cast concrete, granite, and quartzite Located on the lawn between Spelman Halls and New South Building Marok-Marok-MiosaEduardo Paolozzi19651969Welded aluminumStairwell of the Architecture BuildingMastodon VIMichael Hall19681969Bronze and aluminumCourtyard of MacMillan Building Moses Tony Smith 1967–1968 1969 Painted mild steel Lawn in front of Prospect House Northwood IIKenneth Snelson19701973Stainless steelEast Dormitory Courtyard of the Graduate College Oval with Points Henry Moore 1969–701971 Bronze Between Stanhope Hall and Morrison Hall Professor Albert EinsteinSir Jacob Epstein19331970Cast bronzeFine Hall Library Song of the Vowels Jacques Lipchitz 19691969 Cast bronze Between Firestone Library and the University Chapel Sphere VI Arnaldo Pomodoro 19661969 Polished bronze Entrance of Fine Hall Library Spheric Theme Naum Gabo 1973–19741974 Stainless steel Courtyard of the Engineering Quadrangle Stone RiddleMasayuki Nagare19671972Black graniteCourtyard of Engineering Quadrangle The Bride Reg Butler 1956–19611970 Cast bronze Courtyard of Rockefeller College Two Planes Vertical Horizontal IIGeorge Rickey19701972Stainless steelBetween East Pyne Hall and the University Chapel Upstart II Clement Meadmore 19701973 Cor-Ten steel Entrance to the Engineering Quadrangle White Sun Isamu Noguchi 19661970 Saravezza marble Lobby of Firestone Library
Official additions Once the initial collection was finished, the university received George Segal's Abraham and Issac as a gift in 1979. The piece was commissioned for Kent State University in memorial of the 1970 Kent State shootings, but it was deemed too provocative. Segal subsequently donated it to Princeton as it was where he taught sculpture, and it was installed in 1979. The university would continue to receive additional sculptures through purchasing, continued support by the Putnam family through the Mildred Andrews Fund, or as gifts from artists; however, only Segal's work was included in the collection. Name of PieceArtistExecutedInstalledMaterialLocationImageReferencesAbraham and Isaac: In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State UniversityGeorge Segal1978–19791979Cast bronzeBetween Firestone Library and the University Chapel
Unofficial additions The Princeton University Art Museum classifies several other pieces of artwork as falling under either the collection, although no reference to them as official additions can be found. Additionally, while the art museum's map on the Putnam Collection labels Scott Burton's Public Table as part of the collection, no official publication nor the listing on the art museum's website considers it an official component. Name of PieceArtistExecutedInstalledMaterialLocationImageReferencesEinstein's TableMaya Lin20192019Jet Mist GraniteLewis Arts Complex The Princeton LineMaya Lin20182018Earth drawingLewis Arts ComplexURODAUrsula von Rydingsvard20152015Copper, steel, bronzeEntrance to the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Putnam funding Several works on campus, while not part of the collection, have received funding from either the Mildred Andrews Fund, like Scott Burton's Public Table, or the John B. Putnam Jr. Memorial Fund, like Doug and Mike Starn's (Any) Body Oddly Propped.
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Works cited
External links Orange Key Virtual Tour "Strolling Among Sculpture on Campus" by Jennifer Sheppard