Man Controlling Trade

In July 1937, the Section of Painting and Sculpture of the U.S. Department of the Treasury held an open competition for the commission of two sculptures to be carved in stone and located on pedestals flanking the east terrace of the new Federal Trade Commission headquarters. Positioned in direct view of the U.S. Capitol, at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues NW, the sculptures were to be one of the most prominent examples of public art in the nation’s capital. The most important and widely publicized competition ever initiated by the Section, the outcome was hailed as a triumph of democratic principles and fairness. More than 250 artists submitted models for consideration and the winner, Michael Lantz, was an unknown twenty-nine-year-old sculptor from New Rochelle, New York.

Inspired by Leo Friedlander’s two majestic horses flanking the Arlington Memorial Bridge, Lantz’s design comprises two similar, but not identical, groupings of man and horse. An allegorical representation of the functions of the Federal Trade Commission, the men, personifying the agency, attempt to curb the horses, symbolizing the enormous power of trade. Such a symbolic approach is in keeping with the classical Beaux-Arts style architecture of the surrounding Federal Triangle buildings, however, the clean lines and exaggerated musculature of the sculptures reflect the modern stylistic trends that were transforming American architectural sculpture in the mid-twentieth century.

Born in 1908 in New Rochelle, New York, Michael Lantz first began sculpting at a vocational high school for boys in New York City. At age sixteen, he enrolled in the National Academy of Design, where he was taught for two years by Robert Aitken. During the Great Depression, Lantz worked as a WPA sculpture instructor in his hometown until winning the FTC commission in 1938. His other well-known works include the sculpture of St. Avold at the Lorraine American Cemetery in France, which is the largest European cemetery for American soldiers killed during World War II, and the design for the Bronze Medallion, the highest award conferred upon civilians by New York City. Lantz was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1951, and served as president of the National Sculpture Society from 1970–1973.