Hidden in Plain Sight: The Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha - Lorada Taft's Contributions to UIUC

By Chloe Estepp

Each day, hundreds of students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign drift in and out of the Main Library and Foellinger Auditorium, walking to the next study spot or rushing to their next class. Decoration proliferates the facade and interior of each of these buildings: imposing columns, tall entrances, a sprawling auditorium, and a vast study room. Quietly, however, a series of strange sculptures welcome the students into each room: a set of two men in front of Foellinger and two women in front of one of the entrances to the Main Library. They are agonized; their hands covering their head as they bow their heads in anguish, crouched low to the ground, and folding in on themselves. Many students ignore these works of art, too focused on their next activity to stop and observe the slowly decaying monuments. However, behind these monuments lies a rich history of unfinished projects, unique materiality, and a man known as one of Chicago’s greatest sculptors.

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Fig 1 & 2: The two Daughters of Pyrrha in front of the Main Library

Lorado Taft: His Life and His Time Spent in Champaign County 

Lorado Taft was the person behind the sculptures known as The Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha. In his youth, he lived at 601 E John Street in Champaign, Illinois.  He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1879 when he was nineteen years old.(1) He was the son of a well-known professor of geology at UIUC, Dan Carlos Taft.(2) During Lorado Taft’s attendance at UIUC, however, he turned to the arts department and began studying art history. His interest in sculpture emerged from his work in the department. The story goes that the Regents of Gregory and Peabody had ordered a set of sculptures from Europe to add to their collection; however, when these sculptures arrived at UIUC, they were damaged and in very poor condition. Taft saw these damages and began to slowly repair them; this is supposedly what inspired him to become a sculptor.(3)

Fig 3: Taft's family home on 601 East John Street

Fig 4: Lorado Taft - Harris & Ewing negative glass plate

Taft grew his talents at UIUC, but eventually relocated to Paris and, ultimately, to Chicago.(4) However, Taft did not neglect his original community; he made extensive efforts to engage with community members through his lecture series in Foellinger(5), where he presented small lessons on art history that were open to the public. As the March 16, 1957 issue of the Daily Illini mentions, “For many years Lorado Taft served as the non-resident professor of art. His lectures always packed the Auditorium to capacity, with the doors closed to late arrivals.”(6) These lectures taught people to engage with art in a way that went against previous understandings of the art world presented in academia. Taft also provided art directly to the community, most notably that of the Alma Mater sculpture situated in front of Altgeld Hall, in a similar effort to bring works of art into communities – an effort that he returned to throughout his life. 

The Fountain of Time 

The Fountain of Time, located at the west end of the Midway Plaisance in Chicago, emerged as a passion project of Taft’s. He wished to bring physical art into public spaces, revitalizing the places where the art was situated. The idea was brought upon him after reading Henry Austin Dobson’s poem “The Paradox of Time,” which has the following opening lines: “Time goes, you say? Ah no! Time stays, we go.”(7) This inspired visions of the figure of time watching over the procession of humanity and all its complications.(8) From this, The Fountain of Time was initiated; Taft began to extensively promote his project in an attempt to gain support from donors to fund it.(9) Many people did not believe in his efforts, claiming that the sculpture lacked unity or wasn’t garnering the support it needed to remain important enough to continue efforts to gain financial support.(10) However, eventually, the Ferguson Fund of Trustees agreed to give Taft $10,000 a year for five years to create a full-sized plaster version of the sculpture; once this was completed, the Trustees then gave Taft $200,000 to carve the sculpture in marble.(11) Eventually, however, Taft switched the material to concrete due to the complexity of the sculpture.(12)

Fig 5: Fountain of Time, Lorado Taft

Once the sculpture was completed, it became a touchstone for the community: children played in the reflecting pools, and it frequently appeared in advertisements for companies such as Fannie May and the Hyde Park Hotel District.(13) It became an example of the ways public art transforms communities, bringing people together and providing places of admiration, fun, and leisure, as well as a connection between people who may have otherwise never interacted. This fulfilled Taft’s goals of uniting the public through works of art, and it inspired him to consider the creation of a companion piece covering similar, broad themes of life. 

The Fountain of Creation

In a similar effort to The Fountain of Time, Taft wanted to provide Chicago with another project to encourage the gathering of communities and allow massive, extravagant works of art to be available for the public. From 1910 until the end of his life, Taft again focused his new sculptural efforts on the Midway Plaisance by creating a mile-long sculptural project including foliage, fountains, and sculptures of influential figures.(14) The Fountain of Creation would begin at the Washington Park end and continue to the Jackson Park end of the area.(15) However, due to a lack of funding, the artwork never came to fruition. All that is left of the project are snippets of sculptural figures, including the statues of The Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha. 

The conception of The Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha emerged from Taft’s desire to include images from Greek mythology in The Fountain of Creation, complementing ideas about life and death through the myth itself. The story of Deucalion and Pyrrha centers around the two titular figures, who survive a catastrophe on Earth, leaving them to be the only two people left alive. They consult an oracle who tells them to throw the bones of their mother behind them, and, from these bones, new humans will emerge and restore the human race.(16) The stone figures in front of the Main Library and Foellinger Auditorium represent the human race reemerging from the debris and entering into an unfamiliar world, which is why these figures seem so confused. 

These figures eventually came to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through Mrs. Ada Taft, the wife of Lorado Taft, who donated these items to the University in 1937 after his death.(17) Since then, they have been stationed in front of their respective buildings. However, the conditions of the sculptures continue to remain an issue surrounding their preservation and upkeep. 

Conditions and Upkeep 

Like its companion monument, The Fountain of Time, these sculptures are constructed out of concrete.(18) This material was unusual for sculptural work, as most public works of art are typically constructed from more durable materials, such as marble or bronze. The Fountain of Time, however, presented a unique case: the model of The Fountain measured over 120 feet long, 18 feet high, and 14 feet wide(19)– a massive undertaking for any sculptor. Taft was originally interested in carving the statues in stone; however, no artist stepped forward to take on the endeavor(20), fearing the significant amount of labor that encapsulated the project. Eventually, Taft decided to embrace the idea that the sculpture could be constructed out of a different material, namely, one that was easier to work with. This is when Taft turned to John J. Earley, a Washington sculptor who invented a process of using cast concrete and aggregate to create architectural works of art.(21) As Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones detail, “In the ‘Earley method,’ aggregate (small quartz pebbles or river gravel) of stepped sizes and shades were mixed with cement and sand to produce architectural features of fine detail with carefully controlled color and texture. The aggregate covered the surface of the concrete so densely that little of the cement paste could be seen."(22)

This method provided a similar appearance of stone but proved to be much easier to work with for the grandiose sculpture. The complexity of the work emerged during its construction: 4,500 mold pieces were used. Taft even compared the artistic process of making these sculptures to building a house due to the foundation, wooden formwork found below the sculptures, and the walkway found on top of the work.(23)

It is natural to assume that, for the companion piece to The Fountain of Time, The Fountain of Creation, Taft also employed concrete as its primary material. This decision, unfortunately, is evident in the deteriorating state of the sculptures. The figures in The Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha are withering away, showing obvious signs of wear through their smoothed frames and vague sculptural details. 

The drawback of concrete is evident in its easy ability to be affected by erosion from outdoor conditions: the concrete was not “air-entrained,” meaning that it did not incorporate air bubbles into the concrete mix to handle the effects of thermal expansion and contraction from changes in the environment.(24) This lack of consideration in the construction of the sculptures has caused flaking and cracking within the figures in The Fountain of Time, leading to extensive preservation efforts of the sculpture.(25) These efforts have not been duplicated for the fragments from The Fountain of Creation, causing the poor condition of the sculptures.

Fig 6: The upper level of the scaffolding of The Fountain of Time, showcasing the deterioration of the sculptures

These sculptures, in their neglected states, contain a rich history pioneered by Lorado Taft and his efforts. Taft was a great artistic contributor to the community and, specifically, the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He provided a space for community members to engage with art history in an understandable, accessible manner, dismantling the notion of the art world as an untouchable place for those not in academia or art dealership. His public monuments furthered this effort, allowing for casual works of art to be scattered throughout the university, constantly exposing students to art that remains significant touchstones for the community, such as Alma Mater. The Sons and Daughters of Deucalion and Pyrrha may not have the same influence, but their subtle artistry makes the campus more beautiful nonetheless. Their existence in concrete is causing their detriment, however, due to the susceptibility of the material to external elements. As of now, there are no preservation efforts for these particular monuments, and, as such, they may be lost to time. But, for now, they remain pillars of the artistic scene within the Champaign community.

Works Cited

1. C. C. Bufford “University Benefits from Taft’s Talent,” Daily Illini, March 16, 1957, Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection, 7.

2. Ibid

3. Ibid

4. Patricia L. Morse, “Hyde Park Stories: Lorado Taft,” Hyde Park Herald, September 27, 2024.

5. C. C. Bufford “University Benefits from Taft’s Talent,” Daily Illini, March 16, 1957, Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection.

6. Ibid

7. Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones, “Time and Tide: Restoring Lorado Taft’s Fountain of Time: An Overview,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 31, no. 2 (2005): 80.

8. Ibid

9. Patricia L. Morse, “Hyde Park Stories: The Fountain of Time,” October 25, 2024.

10. Ibid

11. Ibid

12. Ibid

13. Ibid

14. MURIEL SCHEINMAN, "ART COLLECTING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: A HISTORY AND CATALOGUE," Order No. 8114475, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1981, 68.

15. Ibid

16. Ibid

17. Ibid

18. Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones, “Time and Tide: Restoring Lorado Taft’s Fountain of Time: An Overview,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 31, no. 2 (2005): 81.

19. Ibid

20. Ibid

21. Ibid

22. Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones, “Time and Tide,” 81-82.

23. Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones, “Time and Tide,” 82.

24. Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones, “Time and Tide,” 85.

25. Barbara Hall and Robert Aaron Jones, “Time and Tide,” 86.