A large Leroy Setziol wall sculpture commissioned by the United States National Bank of Portland Oregon in 1963 as part of their commitment to the support of the regional art community .
The following is taken from the Portland Art Museum's profile of Leroy Setziol for their exhibit in 2015-16 celebrating the 100th year anniversary of his birth
"Leroy Setziol" Sept 5, 2015 – Oct 30, 2016
"A composer in wood, Leroy Setziol created lyrical sculpture that honors the beauty of a material strongly identified with the Northwest. The black walnut, teak, fir, and other woods he employed enhanced his complex gridded compositions, bringing them to life. A self-taught, intuitive worker, Setziol visualized his complex carvings using the grid as an armature to frame imaginative shapes. Throughout his career, his sculpture ranged from intimate works to large-scale public commissions. The largest work on display is an elegant, teak, two-panel wall relief from 1991. Twenty-three works are on view, including free-standing sculpture, totems, and a variety of wall reliefs.
Setziol’s sculpture gained greater recognition with Portland’s architectural community in 1964 when he was invited by Northwest Regionalist architect John Storrs to carve a series of large-scale relief panels for Salishan Lodge in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. Recognized for the commission’s fine quality and compatibility with Modernist architecture, Setziol subsequently was invited by many of Oregon’s leading architects to collaborate on commissioned projects. His work has been exhibited widely around the Northwest, and Setziol received several awards during his lifetime, notably the Portland AIA Artist of the Year Award and the Oregon Governor’s Award for the Arts."
This artwork is one of Leroy Setziol's earliest commissions.
The wall sculpture is slightly under sixteen feet in length assembled from panels of hand carved solid Douglas Fir up to seven inches thick.
It was shown at the Museum of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene Oregon exhibition entitled "A Bank As Art Patron" in December of 1963.
The exhibition showcased the bank's collection with a selection of over150 artworks by regional artists from the pieces of art installed for their customers enjoyment and edification at the bank's 30 branches.
The bank's involvement in the support of the local art community can be traced to David Rockefeller's 1956 call to his fellow bankers to be supportive of the arts and follow the actions of his bank, Chase Manhattan in creating an art collection to share with their clients and community.
The sculpture is in excellent condition.
