Lawrence Tenney Stevens, Sculptor

Lawrence Tenney Stevens, a restless and roving sculptor, was born late in the nineteenth century, but few who see this fiery-tempered Bostonian today would guess his origins. They see a lean, sinewy man galloping through life in Western pants and cowboy boots, his goatee quivering with laughter or indignation, his longish hair never seeming to settle on his head as he continues his pell-mell rush through life and toward his ultimate destiny. Steve, as he is known, is a man obsessed with a mission and his sincere pursuit of the beauty, vigor and grace of classic sculpture has brought him continued youth. Significantly the family crest of the Stevens family is the Phoenix Bird, symbolizing renewal of life, and so it is appropriate that Steve has made his home in the Valley of the Sun. Steve lives and works in his gay red and yellow housein Tempe surrounded by his busy family: Bea, his wife, an artist and assistant to her husband, and four lively chil'dren, Sara, Sylvia, Chad and Mark. They share their home with a multitude of pets which includes a dog, quail, parakeets, horny toads, guinea pigs, lizards, turtles and fish. From early until late the house is alive with shouts and laughter of an active and athletic family. It will surprise no one if the children grow up to be dancers, musicians, painters, sculptors, or animal tamers as the house is a bedlam of all these activities. Seeing them all in motion at one time is an experience one is not likely to forget. Self-centered but not self-contained, Steve may seem like a wild river rushing off in all directions but in his studio his whole stream of consciousness is channeled to a single purpose-the creation of beauty. Steve's sunlit studio reflects his devotion to his work. There he works surrounded by specimens of his forty years adventure as a sculptor. These are strung out on shelves and on the walls all over the studio and range from secular to sacred -from Christ heads to nudes. On a modelling stand at one end of the studio is a soft Italian clay model model of a Mexican Longhorn. The whole thing is picked up and transported in the back of Steve's stationwagon to the stockyard where he is studying one of the last of the big critters. The Brahma Bull lies on its side on a large sack of sand. It is just back from the bronze foundry and Steve is busy chasing it with a multitude of metal files and chisels. Á visitor to the studio last year might have seen a heavyduty block and tackle used to suspend a real cowboy by the heels from the attic rafters. He was the model for the bareback rider who has just been bucked off the Brahma. Now he is immortalized in bronze as part ofthis latest addition to the Rodeo Series, which will eventually include all the main rodeo events. The Cutting Horse was the first of the series and of the edition of ten, number one was purchased by the Valley National Bank and is now on display in the main lobby of the home office in Phoenix. During the summer of 1960 it was shown in the Whitney Gallery of Western Art in Cody, Wyoming, by invitation of Dr. Harold McCracken, Director. Stevens is one of the few living artists so honored by this museum. Each of the bronzes of the Rodeo Series will combine the excitement of the arena and an intimate knowledge of the animals involved into a classic design pleasing to Western art lovers and rodeo enthusiasts. Steve's work has instantaneous appeal and needs little if any interpretation. The current bronzes are being handled through McDuffie's Books of Scottsdale.

Steve's talents were recognized early and his training culminated in 1922-25 with the winning of the Prix de Rome and attendant study at the American Academy. During this period he not only devoted himself to creative work at the Academy, but traveled to Greece, Egypt, Constantinople and other art centers of the Near East.

In his own work Steve uses many of the materials and techniques of the ancient artists of the Mediterranean world and speaks with flowing praise of their achievements.

Many of the small bronzes cast in Rome during those years found their way back to this country; one did not. When word reached the Academy that King Victor Emmanuel was coming for a tour, an exhibit of student work was hastily assembled. Steve wanted to show a small bronze "Falcon" which was just back from the foundry and applying some black enamel to the base to give it the effect of patine, placed it far back on the table with the other sculpture. As luck would have it, the monarch's fancy settled on the bird and he picked it up. International protocol suffered a severe shock in the ensuing fiasco as the academy staff scurried around for cloths to clean the king's hands! A state of uproar is not an unusual occurrence around Steve but this little episode also illustrates the popular appeal of his work. Happily, the king was later presented with a conventionally finished "Falcor."

Artificial patines are applied with acids and blowtorch. While in Rome, Steve was interested in and developed several beautiful patine processes of his own. However, he has since come to feel that if a piece is finished, the form defined and refined toward perfection, an artificial patine is unnecessary. A natural patine forms slowly on a bronze and is uniquely beautiful. It is dependent bothupon the chemistry of the atmosphere around it and the people who handle it. The ancient Chinese bronzes were left in a natural state and time has given them rich natural and mellow colors. Steve would like to see "Please touch" signs put up beside his bronzes.

Steve has always loved the free life of the wild animals and some of his happiest times have been spent observing them. In 1929, he got his first real taste of the West on a ranch near Cody, Wyoming. When he wasn't modelling he could usually be found hunting bears, moose, elk or guiding guests on pack trips. Later he went on an exciting mountain lion hunt in the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona. Some of the tales of these hunts have been recorded by Steve in manuscript form and illustrated with over one hundred carved blocks. Getting this book ready for publication is one of Steve's rainy day projects.

A more recent outcome of his intimate and respectful knowledge of the mountain lion was the beautifully carved head which is in Prescott in the Valley National Bank. "Puma" is of red Australian Eucalyptus two feet tall and almost as hard and heavy as iron.

After the war he established a hill-top studio home in Tulsa for his new wife, Bea, and his expanding family. It was there that he created "The Protecting Hand," a colossal, deep bas-relief which illustrates the quiet and calm dignity of the family. It was commissioned by the Woodman Accident and Life Company of Lincoln, Nebraska for their new home office. Against a background of green tile, the large hand provides a place of refuge to the family, and involves one hundred and fifty tons of stone. The company uses the design as its insignia and has adopted "The Protecting Hand" as its motto.

Shortly after this job was completed in 1954, the Stevens family moved to Arizona. It was in Tempe that he did "Palm Springs in Sculpture," a large two-panel terra cotta bas relief which frames the entrance of the Security First National Bank of Palm Springs, California. It includes the Panel of the Past, dominated by a sun god-THIS DRAMATIC FIGURE.

"MOUNTAIN LION" WAS CARVED BY NATIONALLY KNOWN SCULPTOR LAWRENCE TENNEY STEVENS FROM RARE RED AUSTRALIAN EUCALYPTUS WOOD, WHOSE WEIGHT AND HARDNESS IS SIMILAR TO IRON. A SUCCESSFUL BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN LION HUNT BY A GROUP OF WELL-KNOWN ARIZONA HUNTERS IN THE 306 WAS MR. STEVENS' INSPIRATION.dess who is surrounded by sections illustrating the history of the region. Counterbalancing this is the Panel of the Present, whose central male figure illustrates the strength and vigor of young America. He is surrounded by sections showing the benefits of the desert. The panels are of highly fired unglazed terra cotta which combines well with our desert architecture. They took more than a year to complete. The process of slow drying and long smoking in the kiln is similar to that used over 2000 years ago by the Etruscans. In addition to designing and executing the panels, Steve and Bea personally fired them in their large backyard kiln.

Another architectural commission calling for the same techniques was “The Fighting Bucks,” a bas relief frieze on the Security Building in Phoenix. Various natural colored clays were used for the male mule deer and desert backgrounds which are alive with typical animals and vegetation. Walter R. Bimson of the Valley National Bank of Phoenix was quick to recognize Steve's talents at that time and has given steadfast support and encouragement to all of his subsequent work.While carrying out his work on the Rodeo Series, Steve finds time to do a few small animal bronzes which many people find quite as exciting as his heroic architectural pieces. Three of his most recent ones are: “Fighting Arizona Mule Deer,” “Faun,” and “Desert Ram.” The first was shown at the Phoenix Art Museum in the spring show, Discovery of the West. The “Desert Ram” has been shown at the Muscum of the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society in Tucson.

All of his bronzes have a crispness and decisiveness; he does not equivocate with a line or form. During each transition from clay through plaster, he strives for a closer unity with the ultimate bronze, working over each stage to redefine line and surface. Following the steps through which the sculpture is transformed into bronze will illustrate this development.For the Rodeo Series, Steve studies the rodeo, making sketches from action in both the arena and on ranches. After selecting the moment of action to be portrayed he makes a detailed drawing to the same scale as the finished work. This drawing is used to plan and build the arma ture, a pipe and wire skeleton for the clay. In the months that follow the clay model is built up around the armature and finished with the aid of photos and further studies of the animals from real life.

Next, a plaster waste mould is made of the clay model. Small thin pieces of tin called shims are placed in the clay along lines where the mould will part, then the plaster is carefully applied and reinforced. The mould can be parted at the shim lines and pulled from the clay. After the plaster mould has thoroughly dried, the surface is cleaned and details are clarified. The inner surface is oiled and the pieces fitted together. Plaster is then poured into the mould and reinforced with iron rods. The waste mould is then chipped off this reinforced plaster master.

Steve works over the whole of this master, perfecting the form and detail, bringing the plaster from the quality of pliant clay toward that of the ultimate bronze. This is the last step before the master leaves Steve's studio for the bronze foundry. There a wax or sand-mould casting is made. The resultant bronze is worked over by chasers who superficially clean it up. The original plaster master is used in the casting of each of the bronzes of an edition. After cast, the master is destroyed.

When the bronze is delivered to Steve he chases it. As done by Steve, this involves working the whole surface with tools, sharpening details, redefining the surface and perfecting the form. The base is then designed, usually of marble set into a wooden platform.

Steve's recent bronzes have been delivered from the foundry unpatined. Poor results can sometimes be covered by a patine but a natural bronze must be a near-perfect casting. Foundries charge premium prices for this fine work. The techniques of natural chased bronze are no secret but do involve infinite patience and back breaking labor. It is amusing to Steve that people often don't realize what an old process is being employed; it is not his invention. The famous Fifth Century B. C. Delphi"Charioteer" is a splendid example of a large chained natural bronze.

Steve continues to be an avalanche of artistic activity. He is a sculptor who conceives his work in a grand style, with courage, honesty and flair. He roars and bellows with creativity while striving for serene classic design and unity. He worships the real ideal and feels what he feels in a big way. Like all men of genius he must do things in his own way. An exciting and universal art emerges when all of these forces come together and are utilized. The wild, boisterous son of Boston has found his home, Arizona is privileged to have him as an adopted son, and Western Art has gained vigor and stature because of his creative striving.

The CHIRICAHUA Mountains By Weldon F. Heald