Prometheus was mocked when it was unveiled. Atlas (dedicated in 1937) drew a crowd of protesters. They said the face of Atlas looked too much like Benito Mussolini's. In "About the Subject" I present the evidence for that, along with critics' comments. ("Contains much material extraneous to art," sniped the director of the Whitney Museum. I'm still trying to make sense of that one.)"About the Sculpture" returns to the issue of emotional reactions to art. Some fans of Ayn Rand love Atlas. A few (including me) dislike it intensely. Why would people with more or less the same values disagree on a work of art?
The Sidebar of this essay in Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan is the only one with a quote from Ayn Rand. Bet you can guess which passage of which work is quoted.
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