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lr- In 00 .... ~ '- Much of the sculpture is the work of Norwegian-born. naturalized American Oskar J. W. Hansen. Mr. Hansen fielded Illany questions about his work while it was being installed at the dam. In response to those questions, he later wrote about his interpretation of his sculptures. Hoover Dam, said Hansen, represented for him the building genius of America, "a monulllent to collective genius cxcning itself in community efrons around a common need or ideal." He compared the dam to such works as the great pyramids of Egypt, and said that. when viewing these man-made stl1lctures, the viewer ollen asks of their builders "What manner of men were these'?" The sculptor, according to Hansen, tries to answer this questioll objectively, by "interpreting man to other men in the terms of the man himself." In each of these monuments, he said, can be read the characteristics of these men and 011 a larger scale., the community of which they are p3l1. Thus, mankind itself is the subject of the sculptures at Hoover Dam. Hansen's principal work at Hoover Dam is the monument of dedication on the Nevada side of the dam. Here. rising from a black, polished base, is a 142-foot flagpole flanked by two winged figures, which Hansen calls the Winged Figures of the Republic. They express ". . the im~ mutable calm of intellectual resolution, and the enormous power of trained physical strength. equally enthroned in placid triumph of scientific accompl ishment." "The building (~l Hom'e,. Dam helongs ro the sagas of the daring. 17/e winged bronzes which guard the flag therefbre wear the look (?t" eagles. To them also was given the vital upward thrust of w/ wpiratlollal ge.wure; to symholize the readiness for defense of our institutions and keeping of our _\]Jiritua! eagles ever ready to he on the wing~ 54 Winged Figures of Ihe Republic at }{oowr Dam pay tribure ro those who conceived and built if.