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328:, has observed, “Opus 40 is as complete as it ever would have been. It was the product of Fite’s ceaseless vision, and could only have been stopped by his death.” The following year, his widow, Barbara Fite, a close aesthetic collaborator with Fite throughout his labors, created a nonprofit group to administer
296:, he began creating a space to display the large carved statues he was beginning to create out of native bluestone. Using the rubble that had been left behind as the area was quarried, he built terraces, ramps and walkways to lead to the individual works, doing all the work by hand, and using the traditional
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on the grounds, a collection of folk tools and artifacts of the quarrying era. It was around this same time that he finally succumbed to the pressure to give his masterwork a name. Stating tongue-in-cheek that “Classical composers don’t have to name things; they can just number them, Opus One, Opus
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in his indoor studio), once the stone was up, he realized that what he had originally conceived as a setting for sculpture had become a coherent sculpture in its own right, and a new kind of sculpture, in which carved representational work was out of place. Fite removed his other sculptures and
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332:, and opened the grounds to public access to help support its preservation, including maintenance of the framing grounds that her husband had also landscaped. Barbara Fite died on October 22, 1987, and members of her family continue to advise the directors of the organization.
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Fite died on May 9, 1976, in the 37th year of his creation, in an accidental fall while working on the ongoing project. Work stopped that day, leaving some areas unfinished—but, as his stepson, the writer
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361:"one of the largest and most beguiling works of art on the entire continent," and he has also called it “the greatest earthwork sculpture I have ever seen.” Though Harvey Fite was not associated with the
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Two, and so on,” Fite eventually arrived at what he felt was an apropos name. Opus is the Latin word for work, and 40 refers to the number of years he expected he would need to complete the work.
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that had been used by the local quarrymen before him. As the rampwork of his open-air gallery expanded, Fite realized that the 1.5-ton (1.36 metric ton) statue,
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Though Fite's original plan was to carve the monumental river-stone in place, as his tallest bluestone sculpture to date (he had sculpted
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relocated them on the surrounding grounds, and continued to work on this new sculptural concept for the remainder of his life.
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sculptural movement of the 1970s, he came to be known as a pioneer of that movement, and was recognized in 1977 by the
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In the early 1970s, after he had retired in 1969 from 35 years as a professor at Bard
College, Fite built the
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remains a popular tourist attraction, as well as a wedding and concert venue. In 2001 it was added to the
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Buildings and structures on the
National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
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New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation
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531:"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Opus 40"
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National
Register of Historic Places in Ulster County, New York
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recorded "Opus 40", a song about the site, on their 1998 album
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Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in New York (state)
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concert at Opus 40 on August 16, 1986 was filmed for
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History of the
National Register of Historic Places
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241:(1903—1976). It comprises a sprawling series of
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501:"Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)"
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245:ramps, pedestals and platforms covering 6.5
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620:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
44:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
566:"A Monumental Vision of Half a Lifetime"
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464:"National Register Information System"
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1264:Artists' studios in the United States
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469:National Register of Historic Places
338:National Register of Historic Places
1254:Museums in Ulster County, New York
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529:John A. Bonafide (October 2000).
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564:Wallis, David (June 2, 2006).
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110:Show map of the United States
1154:National Historic Landmarks
25:United States historic place
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276:Fite, then a professor of
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194:NRHP reference
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907:Richmond (Staten Island)
548:Accompanying photographs
171:14.1 acres (5.7 ha)
375:Smithsonian Institution
223:environmental sculpture
152:42.050212°N 74.031544°W
643:Keeper of the Register
418:'s interpretation of
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1163:Outside New York City
658:National Park Service
638:Contributing property
512:(Searchable database)
474:National Park Service
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157:42.050212; -74.031544
1244:Saugerties, New York
847:New York (Manhattan)
445:Hudson Valley portal
414:The music video for
354:Architectural Digest
272:View of the monolith
85:Show map of New York
1150:Bridges and tunnels
148: /
570:The New York Times
396:Saxophone Colossus
317:Quarryman's Museum
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16:For the song, see
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648:Historic district
326:Jonathan Richards
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507:. Archived from
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1042:New Rochelle
942:St. Lawrence
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537:. Retrieved
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516:. Retrieved
509:the original
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392:Robert Mugge
358:
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349:Brendan Gill
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286:Bard College
275:
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1143:Other lists
992:Westchester
922:Schenectady
717:Cattaraugus
403:Mercury Rev
264:Description
239:Harvey Fite
221:is a large
188:Harvey Fite
155: /
131:Coordinates
1218:Categories
982:Washington
902:Rensselaer
837:Montgomery
822:Livingston
727:Chautauqua
431:References
420:Pink Floyd
367:Earthworks
298:hand tools
249:(2.6
227:Saugerties
143:74°01′54″W
140:42°03′01″N
123:Fite Rd.,
1124:Rochester
1119:Rhinebeck
1109:Peekskill
1070:Manhattan
927:Schoharie
807:Jefferson
690:by county
401:The band
357:, called
292:ruins in
278:sculpture
255:bluestone
243:dry-stone
184:Architect
179:1939-1976
1229:Land art
1183:Category
1129:Syracuse
1055:Brooklyn
1002:Southern
997:Northern
967:Tompkins
957:Sullivan
932:Schuyler
917:Saratoga
912:Rockland
862:Onondaga
802:Herkimer
797:Hamilton
777:Franklin
762:Dutchess
757:Delaware
752:Cortland
747:Columbia
737:Chenango
702:Allegany
624:New York
539:March 1,
518:March 1,
381:Tributes
363:Land Art
294:Honduras
235:sculptor
231:New York
201:01000238
120:Location
1134:Yonkers
1037:Buffalo
1025:by city
1009:Wyoming
952:Suffolk
947:Steuben
877:Orleans
867:Ontario
852:Niagara
827:Madison
787:Genesee
742:Clinton
732:Chemung
373:of the
359:Opus 40
334:Opus 40
330:Opus 40
282:theater
253:) of a
218:Opus 40
36:Opus 40
1060:Queens
1032:Albany
977:Warren
972:Ulster
937:Seneca
897:Queens
892:Putnam
887:Otsego
882:Oswego
872:Orange
857:Oneida
842:Nassau
832:Monroe
792:Greene
782:Fulton
722:Cayuga
712:Broome
697:Albany
631:Topics
424:Mother
344:Impact
258:quarry
1050:Bronx
1023:Lists
1014:Yates
987:Wayne
962:Tioga
817:Lewis
772:Essex
707:Bronx
688:Lists
534:(PDF)
525:Note:
309:Flame
302:Flame
290:Mayan
247:acres
176:Built
1193:List
767:Erie
545:and
541:2016
520:2016
422:'s "
280:and
168:Area
622:in
365:or
284:at
225:in
196:No.
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482:^
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455:^
386:A
340:.
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251:ha
229:,
612:e
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411:.
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20:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
