Olympic Sculpture Park - Walking Tour III

Father and Son by Louise Borgeois

Louise Bourgeois
Father and Son, 2004-2005
Stainless steel, aluminum, water and bronze bell
36' x 26' fountain basin, 6'5" father, 4'9" son

In the second section of our tour we viewed Father and Son from the elevated "shelf" seen in the background of the photo above. We now take time to examine the fountain from up close.

The fountain was commissioned by the Seattle Art Museum for Olympic Sculpture Park. However, the money comes by way of the estate of former Safeco Executive Stu Smailes. Upon his death, Smailes left the city $1 million to build a fountain featuring one or more realistic nude male figures.

The City of Seattle parlayed the funds from the odd request into Father and Son, by giving the money to the Seattle Art Museum to commission the piece for Olympic Sculpture Park.

The water of the fountain goes through different stages, but it takes quite awhile to move from stage to stage. Grab a seat on one of the Eye Benches and be patient if you want to see it. The first stage is with both father and son visible. The water then rises, completely engulfing the father. It then reverses with the father becoming visible and the son completely out of view.

Father and Son is located at the corner of Broad Street and Alaskan Way. Head up Broad Street across the train tracks to Stinger, the next stop on our tour.