Mother and Child (or See the Moon) (1964)

by Evelyn Keyser (1923 - 2011)

Photo Caption: Photo Ashley Lippolis © 2020 for the Association for Public Art
  • Title

    Mother and Child (or See the Moon)

  • Artist

    Evelyn Keyser (1923 - 2011)

  • Year

    1964

  • Location

    District Health Center #2, Broad and Morris Streets

  • Medium

    Bronze, on concrete base

  • Dimensions

    Heigh 6' (base 5")

  • Themes

    Women and Public Art

Commissioned by the City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts and Culture, Percent for Art Program

Owned by the City of Philadelphia

At A Glance

  • One of the City of Philadelphia’s earliest Percent for Art projects

  • Keyser was a Philadelphia native and Tyler School of Art graduate known for her wooden sculptures of the human form

  • Mother and Child is the artist’s first bronze and larger-than-life sculpture

     

  • Keyser has several other artworks for public sites in Philadelphia

Mother and Child was one of the earlier results of the 1959 city ordinance requiring that one percent of the construction funds for new municipal buildings be devoted to fine arts. Architect Norman Rice invited several artists to submit designs for the new South Philadelphia health center, and Evelyn Keyser’s submission of a wood carving of a mother and child won her the commission.

Keyser wanted to convey ‘the great affection and protection a mother gives an infant’

A native of South Philadelphia, Evelyn Keyser attended high school only a few blocks from the site where the sculpture now stands. Along with her twin sister, painter Elsie Manville, Keyser won a scholarship to Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. She became known early in her career for creating wooden sculptures of the human form that created a monumental effect even when the dimensions were small.

Keyser hangs her twin sister's painting for their 1988 exhibit at Tyler School of Art. Keyser's wood sculpture is seen in the background.
Keyser hangs her twin sister’s painting for their 1988 exhibit at Tyler School of Art. Keyser’s wood sculpture is seen in the background. Photo courtesy Temple University’s Special Collections Research Center.

Mother and Child was Keyser’s first bronze and larger-than-life sculpture. The figures gaze toward the sky – an attitude explained by the artwork’s alternative title, See the Moon. The artist wanted to convey “the great affection and protection a mother gives an infant” with this sculpture, which relies on simple, rounded forms with minimal detail. The artwork earned Keyser a Citation for Notable Integration of Art and Architecture from the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Keyser has since created a number of artworks for public sites in Philadelphia, including People Pyramid (1970) at Clemente Park and Playground, and Families (1976) at District Health Center #10.

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).

 

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