The world’s biggest garden trowel, Plantoir (2001), a sculpture by the husband-and-wife artist duo of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, is set to be scooped from its longtime location in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.
The towering tool has been a fixture on the campus of the publisher People Inc (formerly Dotdash Meredith), for 23 years. The company confirmed in a statement to the Des Moines Register on 22 August that the sculpture has been sold to an undisclosed “out of state” buyer, adding: “We agreed to the sale only after offering the piece to local organisations. The Plantoir will likely be moved to the new owner before the end of September.”
The sculpture was originally purchased and installed in 2002, when Des Moines-based publisher Better Homes & Garden acquired it in commemoration of the company’s centennial. Plantoir is one of two public sculptures in Des Moines by the famed Pop Art duo. Just one mile east stands Crusoe Umbrella (1979), which was commissioned by the city in 1978 and installed the following year on Cowles Common. Crusoe Umbrella, like Plantoir, holds a title from the World Record Academy for its status as the largest sculpture of an umbrella in existence.
Plantoir is over 23ft tall and weighs 2,300lbs. It is made from aluminum, fiber-reinforced plastic and steel, and was constructed to withstand winds up to 120m per hour. Another editon of the sculpture belongs to the Fundação de Serralves and is on display in its sculpture park in Porto, Portugal. A different version of the sculpture, Plantoir, Blue (2001-21) was installed at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan in 2022.
The Swedish American Oldenburg (1929-2022) and the American Dutch Van Bruggen (1942-2009) created many renowned pieces of public art together, many of them large-scale versions of everyday objects like garden hoses and shuttlecocks. These sculptures are featured all over the world, including the Neumarkt Galerie in Cologne, the Piazzale Cardona in Milan and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.
In addition to changing its name to People Inc (a nod to its flagship publication) and selling Plantoir, the company formerly known as Dotdash Meredith has shifted its headquarters to New York City. But it affirmed its commitment to Des Moines, telling the Register in a statement that the sale "does not, in any way, diminish our commitment to the Des Moines community, and we are investing in the redesign and renovation of our building at 1716 Locust".
Fans of outdoor sculpture in Des Moines need not look far of a fix. In addition to Oldenburg and Van Bruggen's Crusoe Umbrella just down the street, the Des Moines Art Center's Pappajohn Sculpture Park is located two blocks from Plantoir's site and includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Ai Weiwei, Willem de Kooning, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Serra, Yayoi Kusama, Huma Bhabha and others.
