Enchanting Sculpture Park May Be New Jersey's Best-Kept Secret

A Google search of “sculpture parks” reveals various top 10 and best-of lists throughout the country and the world. There’s nary a mention of the Grounds For Sculpture, a wondrous place that marries art and nature and may be New Jersey’s best-kept secret.

Located on a 42-acre site outside Trenton that was once the New Jersey State Fairgrounds, the Grounds For Sculpture exhibits more than 270 works by more than 150 artists. Many sculptures of J. Seward Johnson, a philanthropist who founded the park, are on display, as well as works by Anthony Caro, Clement Meadmore and Beverly Pepper.

Seward Johnson’s 60-foot-tall Daydream casts reflections on a pond at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, N.J.

The sculpture park is not an enclave for artsy highbrows but rather a whimsical, fun and sometimes bawdy outdoor museum and arboretum in Hamilton, N.J., that can be enjoyed by all ages. Johnson’s aim when he conceived the park was “to  make contemporary sculpture accessible and offer people from all backgrounds the opportunity to become comfortable with contemporary art. ”

Many of the contemporary sculptures are massive, and many are tucked away in hidden places amidst trees and shrubbery. Some are so lifelike that visitors may try to strike up a conversation, and, after hours at the park, it’s common to mistake fellow visitors as sculptures. 

Seward Johnson’s 1994 bronze sculpture Déjeuner Déjà Vu was inspired by Edouard Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass). 

“I want my work to disappear into the landscape and then take a viewer by surprise,” Johnson explains on the Grounds For Sculpture’s website. “After he gets over the shock of being fooled, it becomes an emotional discovery. Then he owns the sculpture. People often revisit their favorites. They become like friends.”

The sculpture park also includes six indoor galleries exhibiting the creations of a rotating series of artists. Among the current exhibitions are works by Canadian artist James Carl who weaves slats of aluminum blinds into colorful structures and uses brown cardboard for wall-relief designs. Japanese artist Masayuki Koorida is making his major U.S. exhibition debut, displaying large, nature-inspired granite and marble sculptures and smaller works in stainless steel and acrylic.

James Carl’s woof exhibition is comprised of structures made from aluminum blinds.

Seward Johnson’s 2004 bronze sculpture Copyright Violation!! depicts Claude Monet painting Johnson’s sculpture If It Were Time, which was based on Monet’s painting Terrace at Sainte-Adresse. 

Last year, the Grounds For Sculpture celebrated its 25th anniversary. Construction on the park began in 1989, three years before it opened to the public. Building costs and sculpture acquisitions were financed by public tax-exempt bonds and private foundations associated with Johnson.

George Segal‘s 1999 bronze sculpture Depression Breadline depicts five men waiting for government-issued food during the Great Depression. 

The 88-year-old Johnson, whose grandfather founded the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, is a colorful and controversial artist who began sculpting in the early 1970s. He still visits the Grounds For Sculpture and occasionally mingles with the public at Rat’s, the park’s outstanding fine-dining restaurant that he designed with Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France, in mind.

Seward Johnson’s 1980 sculpture The Awakening depicts a giant under the earth trying to free himself.

Art critics lambasted him years ago, saying he was a wealthy person who bought his way into the art world, and they criticized his lifelike sculptures for being unimaginative. Johnson’s artistry also was clouded by a nasty 15-week trial in 1986 when Johnson and his five siblings sued their stepmother in an inheritance fight.

Today, more than 450 of Johnson’s life-size cast bronze figures are in private collections and museums in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Many are displayed in prominent public places, including New York’s Times Square and Rockefeller Center, Hong Kong’s Pacific Place, Les Halles in Paris and Via Condotti in Rome.

Seward Johnson’s 2005 Erotica Tropicallis, constructed of aluminum and styrofoam, was inspired by Henri Rousseau’s 1910 painting The Dream. 

Two of his most well-known works are Forever Marilyn and The Awakening. The former is a 26-foot-tall stainless steel and aluminum sculpture of Marilyn Monroe trying to hold her skirt down as it blows upward. The Awakening is a five-piece aluminum sculpture spanning 72 feet that depicts a giant trying to break free and emerge from the earth. The Awakening can be seen along the banks of the Potomac River at National Harbor, Md., and a copy is within the Grounds For Sculpture.

Seward Johnson’s 2016 sculpture Redon’s Fantasy of Venus was inspired by Odilon Redon’s painting Birth of Venus.

Earlier this month, Johnson invited the public to join him one evening at Rat’s, an eatery he named after the character Ratty in one of Johnson’s favorite books, The Wind in the Willows.

“Gather around the piano for a Sing-Along with artist and Grounds For Sculpture founder Seward Johnson!” the invitation said. “Sing beloved Broadway favorites, plus standards from the likes of Rodgers, Hammerstein and more, during happy hour, and enjoy the picturesque beauty of the 42-acre sculpture park located just outside Princeton. With plenty of good company and drink and small-plate specials, it’s sure to be a great time!”