Fountain was originally a commission by sculptor Tom Bass in 1962 by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). Located just metres to the north of this site at the former 55 Hunter Street, P&O’s new Australian headquarters also included commissioned artworks by artist-designer Douglas Annand. The building and integrated artworks were completed in 1963.
The sculpture quickly gained iconic status amongst Sydney’s residents and office workers. It was originally conceived to be carved from the stone wall in which it was housed but was eventually created from copper due to concerns around fabrication, functionality and cost. The shape of the sculpture is wave-like, and the incorporation of water reinforces and deepens the work’s maritime association.
Fountain was salvaged when the P&O building was demolished in 2017 to make way for the new Martin Place Metro Precinct. It underwent an extensive restoration process which involved returning the copper material, severely tarnished with age, to its original tonal hues, and re-activating the fountain itself. A new pump system was designed, and, through a meticulous process of restoration, the original water jets were brought back to life.
Tom Bass’ Fountain, installed on Hunter Street. Wikimedia commons, Whiteghost.ink.
Reflecting its intended relationship to the streetscape, the sculpture is reinstated here at its original height and orientation. The tapered line below denotes the sloping angle of the section of street façade for which the fountain was first commissioned.
Fountain was created by Bass at the height of his career and is one of four public sculptures he was commissioned to design for Sydney’s Central Business District during the same period. Responding to the Tom Bass retrospective exhibition staged at the Sydney Opera House in 2006, Professor Richard Goodwin described Fountain as “the most significant public sculpture in the world”.
Photography: Brett Boardman
Tom Bass (1916-2010) was a leading Australian sculptor throughout the second half of the 20th century. Based in Sydney though also working in other capital and regional centres, Bass created over 60 major sculptures: some have been destroyed by urban development, but many continue to enhance our experience of city spaces.
From the early 1950s Bass became a sculptor of public art, with commissions from schools, universities, religious institutions, government and corporate organisations. At a time when traditional public monuments were being replaced with more modern artworks, Bass was a highly sought-after sculptor for the public domain. In addition to his Sydney work, in 1961 Bass completed Ethos for Civic Square in Canberra, a six-metre winged figure which reflected on the ideals of community and the national capital, and in 1967 he created the major Lintel Sculpture for the National Library of Australia, a 21-metre sculpture expressing the archival and intellectual values of the institution. In 1988 Bass was made a member of the Order of Australia. Art critic John McDonald claims that “No artist had done more to shape the face of public art in Australia than Tom Bass” (McDonald, J. Quoted in Hoekstra, M. 2009, “Set in Stone”, SAM, University of Sydney, Winter 2009, p.23.).
