Dispatch from the MAS Adopt-A-Monument Program: Rocket Thrower
One of the city’s most iconic public sculptures is the Promethean bronze Rocket Thrower in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. A vestige of the 1964 World’s Fair, located on its original site, it embodies the Fair’s theme, “Man’s Entry into Space.” The sculptor, Donald De Lue (1897-1988), was influenced by the tradition of ideal sculpture in ancient Greek and Renaissance masters. Cast in Italy, the monument is supported from within by four bronze tubes held in place by clamps. Standing forty-five-foot high, the semi-nude male hurls a long arc-shaped object through a circle of stars into outer space. Part of the MAS Adopt-A-Monument program, its initial conservation was in 2013 and has been maintained by MAS since.
On a blazing hot August day, Zach Tatti, of Tatti Conservation, began treatment on the statue, standing on a lift reaching 43 feet, continuing the work performed in previous years. While the monument presented with an overall green and dark brown patina, the bronze surface was dry with older wax being eroded, most notably at the high points of the form. The areas that experience the most extreme environmental exposure reveal themselves as large patches of green oxidation. After the piece was cleaned of dirt and debris using mild detergents with a high-pressure water system, the bronze was heated with a torch and a new protective application of paste wax brushed on to the surface. Once cooled, the statue was buffed to an even sheen and a new protective wax applied to the entire figure.
The stars encircling the rocket contrail and tip, regilded in 2013 to recreate De Lue’s original conception, happily remain in good condition. Likewise, the base too, once it was cleaned with a biocide and pressure washed.
Today, 60 years after the 1964 World’s Fair, we still marvel at De Lue’s heroic figure, both the history it embodies and the tour de force of its artistic achievement. MAS is grateful to the Achelis & Bodman Foundation for their generosity in providing a grant that enabled us to carry out this critical maintenance.
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