Man Controlling Trade (Model, Federal Trade Commission Building)

Copied Michael Lantz, Man Controlling Trade (Model, Federal Trade Commission Building), 1937, cast 1939, plaster, 14 3⁄4 x 17 3⁄8 x 7 1⁄2 in. (37.5 x 44.2 x 19.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1983.30

Artwork Details

Title
Man Controlling Trade (Model, Federal Trade Commission Building)
Artist
Date
1937, cast 1939
Location
Dimensions
14 3⁄4 x 17 3⁄8 x 7 1⁄2 in. (37.5 x 44.2 x 19.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
plaster
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — other — trade
  • Study — sculpture model
  • Figure male — full length
  • Animal — horse
Object Number
1983.30
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.30

Artwork Description

In 1938, Michael Lantz won the competition to design two sculptures for the Apex Building, home of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. The widely publicized “Apex Competition” was the largest American sculpture competition ever held, receiving almost five hundred models from more than two hundred artists. Lantz submitted small models of his designs, each showing a heroic figure straining to control a powerful horse. The final, seventeen-foot-long statues were completed in 1942 and installed outside the eastern entrance of the Federal Trade Commission building, where they can be seen today.

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