The exhibition is a general survey of sculpture owned by the museum, plus three exquisite bronzes generously on loan from New Jersey sculptor Sassona Norton.

Executive Director Steve Miller. said, “The exhibit consists of sculpture from all periods, starting with an anonymous marble bust dating back to the 15th century. When it came to choosing a contemporary representation, we decided to give prominent voice to the work of local artist Sassona Norton.”

Norton’s monumental sculpture was on view at the museum in the summer of 2006, a highly praised exhibition, and quite popular with the museum’s visitors. In 2005, Norton installed the United States’most prominent 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania, after winning an international competition. Although her work originates in traditions of casting in bronze, her interpretation is dominated by the desire to reflect on contemporary issues of strength and vulnerability in a way far from the decorative traditions for figurative sculpture.

The three Norton works on display—“Unquenchable Thirst;” “Memories of Sweetness;” and “An Hour Before Dawn”—anchor a selection of sculpture from the collection that form a brief historical and cultural overview of the museum’s holdings.

 A fine example of a ritual stela from India of the “Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara” is the oldest attributed piece on view, a limestone dating from 14th to 15th century A.D. Also from India, though of uncertain date, is a pairof beautifully carved wooden panels from the southern part of the country. The panels depict goddesses from the Hindu pantheon.

Moving through more modern times, the exhibition features prominent works by major 20th century sculptors: Roy Crosse; Miklós Sebek; John Kahn; and Jean (Hans) Arp. The Arp work, “Figure Recuillie,” a bronze cast in 1956, is a work from the artist’s mature years. A founder of the DADA movement at the outbreak of World War One, Arp, along with DADA’s radicals (Marcel DuChamp, Max Ernst, and George Grosz, and others) challenged the very meaning of “art,” rejecting rational thought in the arts and life which they believed led to war and destruction, and instead embraced chaos. Arp’s later development kept him on art’s radical edge, experimenting with Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.  The “Figure Recuillie” dates to the Abstract Expressionist period.

Perhaps the most mysterious object in the exhibition is the “Life-Sized Mannequin,” a wooden, articulated figure of unknown date. It appears to be an artists’ mannequin of the type still made today, though unlike the modern versions, the museum’s mannequin has distinct facial features, giving it a personality much loved by museum staff and visitors.