An eagle for Lincoln Tower
Will others follow the trend of art ‘in private places’?
By Louise Thompson


MIAMI TODAY
Thursday, June 26th 1986

When the new Lincoln Tower—to be renamed Barnett Tower—opens in December, Aquila, Latin for eagle, an abstract sculpture of the American eagle by artist John Raimondi, will already be rising from the grass behind the building.

Virginia Miller, who represents Mr. Raimondi in the U.S. and is owner and director of ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, said the piece will be placed as close to the water as possible, right beside the public walk. It will be visible from Brickell Key.

The 78-by-36-foot bronze sculpture will be fabricated by hand, instead of cast, in a studio in Boston. It will be cut to be trucked to Miami. When it is set in place, the artist will personally give the exterior surface a patina using heat and acid. A crane will lift him the height of a three-story building to do the job.

Harry Rand, Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery in Washington, DC, calls this “the largest bronze sculpture in North America and one of the most important in the world.”

Miami News art critic Leslie Judd Ahlander, calls it “eloquent and moving.”

It doesn’t look like an eagle, but suggests the way an eagle soars. The sculpture is part of the artist’s endangered species series, which includes a wolf and a whale.

Lincoln Properties would not say what they paid for Aquila, except that it was well into six figures. The current market value of a small-scale bronze replica (one inch to the foot), is $10,000.

Ms. Miller, broker in the sale, said the developers feel the piece is “very profound, not just a token piece out in front of the building.”

“So much of what I sell goes out of state,” she said. “I’m excited to have this one right here.”

She’s also excited that the corporate world is joining the public sector in buying fine art on a large scale.