If I had a time machine, visiting the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair during its initial run would be among my top ten destinations to visit. The two-year event attracted millions of visitors. It was a Mid-Century wonderland filled with optimism and visions of 21st Century living. Decades after the fair ended, I stopped by the former site while on a business trip to New York City during a Sunday afternoon in late October 2003. With my Canon EOS Rebel 2000 film camera in hand, I snapped photos of remaining structures including “The Rocket Thrower” sculpture by Donald DeLue.
THE ROCKET THROWER BY DONALD DELUE
The centerpiece of the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair was the Unisphere, a stainless steel representation of the Earth designed by Gilmore D. Clarke. Commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the space age, the gigantic icon was constructed by American Bridge Company, a division of United States Steel who would later work on Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. U.S. Steel traded construction fees of the 140-foot tall structure with having the company’s name was placed on marketing materials throughout the fair. I felt incredible small standing next to the sphere as the sun retreated toward the horizon.
Nearby, a 43-foot tall bronze sculpture titled “The Rocket Thrower” reached for the stars. Created by Boston-born Donald DeLue, the figure was found in the Plaza of the Astronauts.
The sculpture was mentioned in some of the earliest press about the fair. On July 22, 1962, Frank McKeown’s “Daily News” article titled “’64 Fair to Blossom On a Former Dump”on discussed by the Unisphere and bronze sculpture.
“The ‘Space Age’ theme is revealed in the titles of some of the proposed exhibits and decorations,” wrote McKeown. “The symbol of the fair, the ‘Unisphere,’ a ribbed steel globe resembling an atom, will overlook the Plaza of the Astronauts and a statue of The Rocket Thrower. On one side of the plaza will be an illuminated Astral Fountain.”
Both the Unisphere and The Rocket Thrower would frequently appear together in concept artwork and images advertising the fair.
Donald DeLue’s “The Rocket Thrower” sculpture was one of nine figures created by American artists for the fair, and it was certainly one of the most memorable.
DeLue was originally contacted by a firm of highway-planners who had worked with New York City Department of Parks and Recreation commissioner and president of the fair Robert Moses. He told Barbara Dyer in a Daily Record profile on June 8, 1965 that he was “asked if he had anything of interest … and submitted several sketches.” He was then hired to design this iconic work.
THE ROCKET THROWER SPARKS CONTROVERSY
While it’s a beloved figure today, DeLue’s sculpture and other artwork created for the fair sparked criticism and controversy from some art critics.
According to a March 15, 1964 article in the Courier Journal, Art Editor Sarah Lansdell shared details behind the controversy including feedback from Nelson Lansdale, a contributing editor to “Art Voices.” Lansdale wrote a critical piece in the March 1964 issue of the magazine questioning why fair President Moses ordered “conservative sculptures for conspicuous positions on the fair grounds.” He was also bothered that no fair pavilions have been provided for “old masters or contemporary art.”
“Moses has stubbornly opposed an exhibit of old masters like that which made money at the Seattle World’s Fair,” complained Lansdale.
Not surprising, he didn’t like “The Rocket Thrower” or the other bronze sculptures commissioned for the event.
This criticism prompted fair officials to withhold the artist names of four official sculptures on the fairgrounds, including DeLue who created “The Rocket Thrower.” Yet DeLue’s name appeared in newspaper reports both before and after the image presented above was published on April 23.
A week later, The Daily Register ran a short blurb about DeLue’s work based on something overheard at the fair. The article said the sculpture “classically interpreted the theme of the heroic statue on the main mall was designed to intentionally translate the idea with no struggle.” One attendee said, “I knew it was awful art – I understand it.!”
REACHING FOR THE STARS
Despite the long-forgotten controversy, “The Rocket Thrower” has withstood the test of time, frozen in a moment when “mankind” was dreaming of its place among the stars. I loved visiting the fairground in October as the autumn leaves made for a spectacular backdrop.
At 12 years of age, DeLue met Bela Pratt, head of modeling Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. Five years later, he received a scholarship and began studying with Pratt’s assistant, Richard Recchia. Upon graduation in 1916, he apprenticed himself with the English Sculptor Robert Baker for three years. After working with Baker, he spent another five years in Europe before returning to the United States to become an assistant to Bryant Baker, Robert’s brother, in his New York studio.
In 1938, he set up an independent studio in New York but eventually relocated to Leonardo, a section of Middletown Township, New Jersey, to work on “The Rocket Thrower.” The figure needed a tremendous amount of studio space to create the larger-than-life figure. He would later design the 22-foot tall “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves” at Omaha Beach Cemetery in France, figures for banks, and sculptures at Gettysburg.
DeLue also designed more than two dozen medals including the National Medal of Science.
DONALD DELUE PASSES ON AUGUST 26, 1988
At age 90, sculptor Don DeLue passed on August 26, 1990 at Riverview Medical Center in Riverbank. Donald and his wife Naomi De Lue (who served as a model for many of his statues) are buried in Manalapan Township, New Jersey at the cemetery at Old Tennent Presbyterian Church. His works are still found in museums and public spaces throughout the United States.
But it’s his Rocket Thrower that inspires me the most to continue reaching for the stars. Now that’s wonderful and strange.