Located in midtown Manhattan, AXA Equitable Center occupies the entire block between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue and 51st and 52nd Streets and is comprised of two office buildings: AXA Equitable Tower, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and Associates; and the UBS Building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. AXA Equitable offices are also located across the street at 1290 Sixth Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets. The public spaces of AXA Equitable Center are devoted to exhibition galleries and public art, as well as other amenities.
Atrium Furnishment is one of three works by Scott
Burton commissioned for AXA Equitable Center. Burton was a leader in the contemporary field of public art, espousing a practical concern for the
urban dweller: that sculpture be not only thought provoking, but functional. Atrium Furnishment is an ensemble comprising the 40-foot settee of
verde larisa marble, studded with pink onyx lights, and a table-fountain containing aquatic plants. These elements are complemented by the stand of trees, the pavers and bronze arc set into the floor, which, taken together, form a welcome enclosure.
Mural with Blue Brushstroke, commissioned by AXA Equitable, was executed on site by the artist Roy Lichtenstein in the fall of 1985. The mural is a compendium of the Pop artist’s
signature images and those of other twentieth-century masters. Among the various motifs are several visual puns, such as the large brushstroke that gives the painting its title, which is at once a reference to the gestural style of the Abstract Expressionists and an image of falling water.
Born in 1834, Henry Baldwin Hyde founded The
Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in 1859. By the time of his death, in 1899, the company had become the largest life insurer in America, with international offices as far as Europe, South America, and Australia.
In 1901, Hyde’s son, Henry Hazen Hyde commissioned the prominent America sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to execute a monumental bronze portrait in his father’s honor. Ward was an excellent choice for the posthumous representation of Hyde whom he knew; the latter having been one of the artist’s most important patrons. In 1868, Ward was commissioned by Hyde to design the figure group known as Protection (the symbol of the company).
Born in 1834, Henry Baldwin Hyde founded The
Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in 1859. By the time of his death, in 1899, the company had become the largest life insurer in America, with international offices as far as Europe, South America, and Australia.
In 1901, Hyde’s son, Henry Hazen Hyde commissioned the prominent America sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to execute a monumental bronze portrait in his father’s honor. Ward was an excellent choice for the posthumous representation of Hyde whom he knew; the latter having been one of the artist’s most important patrons. In 1868, Ward was commissioned by Hyde to design the figure group known as Protection (the symbol of the company). |
Scott Burton
J.Q.A. Ward