The City Fettering Nature (1927): Art, History and Details

The City Fettering Nature (1927) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Alexander Blazys (American, born Russian Empire [now Lithuania], 1894–1963).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Alexander Blazys, a Lithuanian immigrant, became a leading sculptor in Cleveland during the 1920s, when he created The City Fettering Nature for the Cleveland Museum of Art’s grounds. In this composition, Utility and Beauty, two characteristics of the city, are shown as intertwined figures attempting to subdue Nature’s power. The brawny figure of Nature, still standing despite this attack, struggles to free himself from the restraints.

Object facts

• Title: The City Fettering Nature
• Date: 1927
• Creator attribution: Alexander Blazys (American, born Russian Empire [now Lithuania], 1894–1963)
• Culture: America, Ohio, Cleveland
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: without base: 235.6 x 177.8 x 104.2 cm (92 3/4 x 70 x 41 in.)
• Collection: American - Sculpture
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1927.211

A detail from the museum

This monumental bronze sculpture weighs 1,500 pounds and requires a crane to install.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. B. P. Bole, Leonard C. Hanna Jr., John L. Severance and F. F. Prentiss

Further reading listed by the museum

• Alexander Blazys Entry Card to 1927 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.