Untitled (Abstract Sculpture)
This bronze abstract sculpture by Robert Cronbach (1908 – 2001) was presented as part of a general program of the Nation Council for United States Art. The Council places work of contemporary artists in public buildings.
Cronbach was a free-lance sculptor and Assistant Professor in the Art Department of Adelphi College, Garden City, New York. His work is included in collections in the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. In 1959, his work was included in the American National Exhibition in Moscow.
The sculpture was presented by former President of the National Council for U.S. Art, Inc., Roland L. Redmond and accepted on behalf of the United Nations by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold.
Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold selected the sculpture to be displayed in the public lobby near the Meditation Room. He associated this part of the building as a space for private meditation and prayer, and a place to remember those who served the United Nations and died in its service. He said, “I think it is quite proper that this part of the building has not been decorated by this or that government but has been decorated on the basis of private generosity and private initiative. It is the gift of private persons to private persons within the side framework of the United Nations.”