After undergoing an extensive conservation process over the last year, the museum, along with colleagues at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, celebrates today the rededication of Gwenfritz, a 40-foot tall abstract sculpture by the esteemed American artist Alexander Calder. Intern Auni Gelles shares the behind-the-scenes scoop on the sculpture's recent restoration.

Alexander Calder's Gwenfritz. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives. 

#1. Calder had a deep relationship with the Smithsonian.
Heeding First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson's 1965 appeal for the beautification of the nation's capital, the philanthropist Gwendolyn Cafritz commissioned Calder to create a sculpture to be placed outside what was then known as the Museum of History and Technology (we became the National Museum of American History in 1980). Although he had criticized the Johnson administration's policies surrounding the Vietnam War, Calder accepted this commission, which would become part of the collection of what is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Calder valued his relationship with the Smithsonian and solidified his commitment to public art in America by creating other works for this national collection. In a 1968 letter to David Scott, then the director of the art museum, Calder mentions his progress on both Gwenfritz and another stabile, Nenuphar.

This letter from "Sandy" (Calder's nickname) mentions the two sculptures he created for the Smithsonian around 1968. Smithsonian Institution Archives accession 96-135, boxes 1 & 2.

#2. The pool that will again surround the sculpture was an important part of Calder's vision. 
He originally envisioned high jets of water surrounding the stabile—that's the opposite of a moving sculpture, a mobile—but it was determined that the fountain would be too difficult to maintain. Water would no doubt come into contact with the metal, accelerating its deterioration. The water feature, however, remained part of Calder's idea for this site-specific work: the sculpture was designed to be surrounded by a reflecting pool.

The water feature disappeared when the sculpture was moved to a new location on Constitution Avenue in 1984, to make way for a bandstand. A major component of the stabil''s restoration is its move back to its original location, where it will once again stand above a pool of water. Karen Lemmey, the curator of sculpture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, said, "It's always great when you're able to honor the artist's vision."

Gwenfritz in a reflecting pool. Photo is from around 1971.

#3. Like an archaeological dig, removing layers of paint on the sculpture exposed information about the object's past. 
When Calder created this enormous structure in his studio in France, he instructed metal workers where to cut with markings on the material. Individual pieces were then assembled to form this massive abstract shape, disassembled, and shipped to the museum in crates. Once it was reassembled on the west side of the museum in 1969, Smithsonian staff covered Gwenfritz in matte black paint in accordance with Calder's suggestions—concealing the original markings. It wasn't until 2013, when conservators removed the sculpture's surface coatings, that Calder's guide marks resurfaced. They gained insights from these previously hidden marks. "It's as if we returned to Calder's hand," Lemmey said. "The piece reveal[ed] itself in the course of conservation and tells us a lot about Calder's creative process."

#4. Gwenfritz received a new coating of high-tech, military-grade paint.
The third-generation sculptor gained technical expertise as he studied mechanical engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. To achieve a rich black tone for the Gwenfritz, he shipped the metal pieces in a primer coat and advised the Smithsonian to add layer of low-gloss paint.

After careful consideration, the team chose to recover Gwenfritz in a new, military-grade paint developed by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the National Gallery of Art specifically for outdoor sculptures. Lemmey believes that Calder would have approved of this cutting-edge paint had it been available to him. "We would hope that the criteria that we used to guide this project would have been sympathetic to the way that Calder would have approached the problem himself," she said. In order to protect the metal for another 50+ years, the Smithsonian's preservation team will check on its condition regularly and touch up the paint as necessary.

Gwenfritz as it appeared in 2013

#5. The sculpture is held together by more than 1,200 bolts—which were all replaced. 
When the stabile was assembled in 1969, the individual pieces were connected by 1,270 bolts that came in different sizes to fit various angles. Each of the bolts faced the same way, creating a uniform aesthetic. During the 1984 move to the north side of the museum, however, this detail was lost. According to Richard Barden, the museum's preservation services manager who oversaw the recent conservation of Gwenfritz, records from both the original installation and the move 15 years later do not provide sufficient insights into how exactly the sculpture was actually set up. Before the stabile was temporarily deconstructed last fall, the staff had to better understand how exactly it was put together. Ashley Jehle, an intern in the museum's objects lab in 2010, created a detailed study of each of the 71 irregularly shaped pieces.

Using this as a guide, the conservation process could begin. The only parts of the Gwenfritz that were replaced were the bolts, many of which had corroded over the years. Thin washers were placed between the bolts and the metal planes, and special attention was paid to ensure that all of the bolts would once again be facing a single direction, a fact that Barden is particularly proud of. Barden has made an effort to maintain more detailed records so that future conservators do not face the same challenges when caring for Gwenfritz.

Fitted with this durable new hardware and a fresh coat of black paint, the Gwenfritz is now back in its original location in a new reflecting pool on the west side of the museum. I can only imagine that Calder would be delighted to see this landmark work today, as it is more striking than ever before.

Auni Gelles interned in the New Media office over the summer. She has also blogged about Raise It Up! Anthem for America and historic preservation. For more pictures of the Gwenfritz, check out the Flickr album. 

Recent news of state and local elected officials stepping up their campaigns for the 2014 November elections brings to mind the fascinating array of campaign material housed in the museum's Division of Political History. My research for a display on the early 1960s for the museum's 50^th anniversary this year required delving into the division's collection of memorabilia from the 1960 and 1964 Presidential campaigns.

Kennedy campaign sticker

For years political parties have used parades and rallies, slogans, songs, and signs to not only promote their favorite candidates but to disparage their opponents as well. An abundant amount of campaign trade material such as buttons, stickers, hats, postcards, playing cards, coasters, match books, and more was and continues to be produced.

During the 1960 Presidential campaign the young democratic Senator from Massachusetts John F. Kennedy was pitted against the experienced republican Vice-President Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy pledged to "get the country moving again." Emphasis was on finding new ways to deal with domestic problems of poverty and inequality and focusing on new challenges such as space exploration.

Hats like the one pictured below were worn by delegates and supporters of the Kennedy/Johnson presidential ticket at the 1960 Democratic convention in Los Angeles.      

A woman's Kennedy/Johnson campaign hat                       

Richard Nixon campaigned as the more responsible and experienced candidate in both domestic and foreign policies and promised to continue the peace and prosperity of the previous eight years of the Eisenhower administration in which he played a part as Vice-President.

Nixon campaign bumper sticker

Nixon campaign sheet music

Defining moments of the 1960 campaign were the debates between the nominees which were televised for the first time in history and watched by millions of viewers. 

First televised Kennedy-Nixon debate

Evidence of the popularity of these debates is this handmade community sign, with political buttons of the candidates attached, urging citizens to gather together to watch the fourth and last Kennedy-Nixon televised debate. 

Handmade sign from 1960 urging voters to watch the Nixon-Kennedy debate

The election was very close as JFK barely edged Nixon in popular votes however the electoral votes gave him the lead. John F. Kennedy was on his way to the White House as he became the nation's youngest President and first Catholic ever elected to office. 

Kennedy campaign sticker

In contrast to the narrow margin of victory in the 1960 Presidential election, the 1964 election was a landslide. Much had occurred during the previous four years. In November, 1963, before he could complete his dream of a "New Frontier," President Kennedy was assassinated and Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President. Johnson carried on the policies and goals of JFK under the slogan "Great Society." His proposals included civil rights legislation, education aid, and medical care for the elderly.

Comic book featuring Lyndon Johnson and the "Great Society"

However, many southerners, including some elected democratic officials, were not pleased when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and it threatened to split the party. Just four weeks before the election first lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson, born and raised in the south, embarked on a four-day whistle-stop tour throughout rural areas of the south to gather support for her husband's campaign and defend the idea of civil rights. To publicize the event postcards like the one below were sent from aboard the "Lady Bird Special" as the first lady traveled to 47 towns making 47 speeches from a platform on the back of the train.   

Postcard for the Lyndon Johnson campaign's Lady Bird Special train

Johnson's opponent in the 1964 campaign was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Conservative Goldwater was outspoken and often controversial in his views. He proposed limiting Federal Government involvement in activities such as welfare and medical care and was a strong advocate against communism. At one point in the campaign, he suggested using nuclear weapons as a means of dealing with the conflict in Vietnam. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention he stated, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."  

Both sides of a fan supporting the Goldwater campaign

The campaign was heated as Johnson and Goldwater conflicted over every issue. The Republicans focused on Johnson's overspending and recklessness with the economy while Goldwater claimed the country was in "moral decay" with "violence in the streets" under Johnson's administration. The Democrats called Goldwater irresponsible and extreme in his views, especially on the use of nuclear weapons. Though Goldwater's supporters officially coined the slogan "In Your Heart You Know He's Right," the un-official slogan of his opponents became "In Your Guts You Know He's Nuts."

Political parties often distributed satirical material to discredit their opponents such as this "Bettor Deal Certificate" emphasizing Johnson and the Democratic Party's undesirable policies and this cartoon book that the Democratic National Committee used to decorate their office displaying Goldwater as a radical buffoonish character. 

Johnson "Funny Money" certificate

Goldwater cartoon book

The candidates toned down their rhetoric later in the campaign but it was "LBJ All the Way" and Johnson went on to win the election with 486 of the 538 electoral votes and by a margin of more than 16 million popular votes.

Johnson campaign sticker