Newspaper Reader On Niagara
I still remember the first time that my mom pointed out artist J. Seward Johnson Jr’s sculpture on Niagara Street (at Rich Products). It was one of the first times in my life that I remember thinking that art was cool. I wanted to get out of the car and examine the piece. Ever since I was young this realistic sculpture has captured my attention. As we passed by on Sunday I recognized my friend Jack sitting next to the sculpture. Jack had helped to keep Elmwood clean a dozen years ago when we were busy organizing some micro music festivals. “There’s print in the newspaper,” Jack said. “Look, you can see actual articles printed on Tuesday, November 10th, 1958.” So I looked, and sure enough there were a series of articles pertaining to Rich Products sculpted into the ‘paper’.
When we examined the other side of the paper, we realized that it was from an actual edition of the Courier Express (complete with etched photos). A few of the more interesting headlines read, “Defects Plague Geary Apartments”, “Philharmonic Board Asks To Trim Season”, and “Cowboys Give Bills The Boot”. It was amazing to see how much detail went into this incredible sculpture. “They stole the first one,” Jack continued. “I grew up in this neighborhood and remember when it was stolen.” Hmmm, I had never heard that this sculpture had been stolen and replaced with a new one. Jack swears that he remembers when it happened. Anyone else out there recall the incident?
Regardless, the fact that Niagara Street is lucky enough to have such an awesome work of art from a well-known artist is wonderful. He’s got a pipe in his pocket and a real cigarette butt in his mouth. Hundreds of people have had their photo taken with this silent celebrity and hopefully he’ll be around to see many, many more years of inquisitive passersby.
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PaulBuffalo
The Newspaper Reader is not unique to Buffalo. J. Seward Johnson made a number of castings. Another version, in New York City, was damaged in the World Trade Center destruction of 2001. At Park Avenue and 47th Street, you can see a J. Seward Johnson bronze sculpture named 'Taxi'. It's a standing man, looking like the brother of the Newspaper Reader, hailing a taxi. (Considering where he's located, he also looks like a Bear Stearns worker hunting for a job.)
The Grounds for Sculpture, in Hamilton, New Jersey, features more of J. Seward Johnson's large-scale works. Although Johnson's sculptures often border on kitsch, Buffalo's Newspaper Reader fits in nicely on Niagara Street. As long as Rich Products continues to wax him regularly, he can continue to provide company to those waiting for the Number 5 bus.
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Perry
I remember sitting at that intersection once, looking over at the sculpture. I notice a local "crazy person" sitting next to the piece and seemed to be having a conversation with it.
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PaulBuffalo
Perry, you're correct. Years ago, there was a woman who used to visit the statue daily and referred to it as her boyfriend. When not talking to him, she also danced next to him and made sure there was no trash discarded on him. (Rich Products never had her removed because she caused no harm to the sculpture or the passersby.) I guess you could call it unintentional performance art.
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simcoe
Sadly the poor man has been the victim of over 1300 attempted muggings over the past many years.
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RisingDamp666
In my rarified Art circle, we call him "J.Sewage Johnson", for obvious reasons.
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BlackRockAdvocate
Rich Products should remove this to add another parking spot!
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mac1234
Thats horrible, BlackRock
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