Photo: Jim McLaughlin

SCULPTURE

For more than fifty years, John Van Alstine has created abstract sculptures forged with stone and steel. At their essence, they explore natural forces and man-made elements, conveying the American experience as the confluence/conflict between wilderness and industrialization.

Tim Kane, author and Van Alstine biographer

Van Alstine’s multifaceted technical toolbox, formal invention, and artistic vision have served him and his international audience well over the years.  His art is represented in the permanent collections of a dozen-and-a-half public museums and in countless private collections.  His massive public art projects span diverse sites from Michigan State University to Tsinghua University in Beijing.  His art is included in prestigious corporate collections, and he continues to produce large-scale works

Howard N. Fox, Emeritus Curator of Contemporary Art - Los Angeles County Museum of Art

john@johnvanalstine.com

Adirondack Sacandaga River
The Sculpture Garden & Studio
An 8-acre artist-designed park in the historic hamlet of Wells, NY — featuring the work of John Van Alstine and Caroline Ramersdorfer, set along the banks of the Sacandaga River in a restored 19th century mill complex. NYS Historic Site, 2022.
Explore the garden →
Now on view
As Earth Is to Sky
Ringling Museum of Art  ·  Sarasota, FL  ·  2025–2027
View exhibition →
Available sculptures
Available works
Sculptures
Browse available sculptures by size.
Sculpture Garden
Wells, NY
Sculpture Garden
8 acres on the Sacandaga River. Open by appointment.
Visit →
Books
4 monographs
Books
Four decades of published work.
Collections & exhibitions
Beijing Olympic Park Hyde Collection Chesterwood Ringling Museum
of Art Saratoga 911
Memorial Indianapolis Airport Michigan State
University PBS · WMHT
American Monuments: Finding New Dimensions
New — 2025
American Monuments
Finding New Dimensions
The newest volume in the trilogy — large-scale realized and unrealized public works spanning four decades. John makes the complete book freely available for researchers and anyone interested in his work.
Buy signed copy — $45 → Read free →
Four hardcover books - a must for any art library.
CATAPULTA VIII 2008, river stone / pigmented and sealed steel, 10”h x12”w x4.5”d private collection - Cadiz,Spain
CATAPULTA VIII 2008, river stone / pigmented and sealed steel, 10”h x12”w x4.5”d private collection - Cadiz,Spain
February digging sculpture from snow, dragging to studio getting ready to ship to London…
February digging sculpture from snow, dragging to studio getting ready to ship to London…
Spending a lazy summer afternoon on Gilman Lake near Wells, New York with Texas friends Simon And Autumn.
Spending a lazy summer afternoon on Gilman Lake near Wells, New York with Texas friends Simon And Autumn.
 Brilliant sunny day today…
 Brilliant sunny day today…
The rains have the river running high, beautiful afternoon at the sculpture garden would be perfect for kayaking
Evening photo session with Caroline and Photographer Jim Mclaughlin
Evening photo session with Caroline and Photographer Jim Mclaughlin
First time out kayaking,this spring, ran into a little beaver activity. Haven’t seen the beaver “slap tail” warning in quite a while. Here are two videos - for the second one, wait for the end for the slap. Wishing I had thought to
First time out kayaking,this spring, ran into a little beaver activity. Haven’t seen the beaver “slap tail” warning in quite a while. Here are two videos - for the second one, wait for the end for the slap. Wishing I had thought to film this in slow motion.
I’ll be curious if anyone finds the “bongo board” reference in the text … NON SEMPER EA SUNT QUAE VIDENTUR, 1991, bronze and granite, 85"h x60"w x27"d (Things are not always what they appear) Non Semper Ea Su
I’ll be curious if anyone finds the “bongo board” reference in the text … NON SEMPER EA SUNT QUAE VIDENTUR, 1991, bronze and granite, 85"h x60"w x27"d (Things are not always what they appear) Non Semper Ea Sunt Quae Videntur” (1991)—Latin for “things are not always what they appear” a bronze and granite sculpture by John Van Alstine that distills one of his central concerns: transforming weight into apparent motion. A curved granite “rocker” supports a tall, rough-hewn column, while two perpendicular bronze cylinders beneath suggest a precarious, rolling balance—like a 1950s bongo board (a device the artist used in his youth for ski training). The effect is immediate: the entire mass seems as if it could shift or rock at any moment. Yet the danger is illusory. The cylinders are pinned, fixing the composition and subverting expectation. This tension—between perception and structural reality—drives the work, reinforcing how stability can masquerade as instability, and mass as motion. Within Van Alstine's career, the sculpture reads almost as a manifesto. For decades, he has choreographed stone and metal into configurations that appear to defy gravity, prompting reflection on balance, risk, and permanence. Here, a massive form seems poised in motion, yet remains securely grounded. Ultimately, the work encapsulates his enduring aim: to reveal a latent sense of movement within solid materials, where certainty gives way to a moment of visual surprise and doubt.
Puzzle time!
Puzzle time!
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old French fleche, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch vlieke arrow, Old English flEogan to fly : SPIRE ; especially : a slender spire above the intersection of the nave and transepts of a church
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old F
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old French fleche, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch vlieke arrow, Old English flEogan to fly : SPIRE ; especially : a slender spire above the intersection of the nave and transepts of a church
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old F
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old French fleche, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch vlieke arrow, Old English flEogan to fly : SPIRE ; especially : a slender spire above the intersection of the nave and transepts of a church
Four hardcover books - a must for any art library.
CATAPULTA VIII 2008, river stone / pigmented and sealed steel, 10”h x12”w x4.5”d private collection - Cadiz,Spain
February digging sculpture from snow, dragging to studio getting ready to ship to London… Spending a lazy summer afternoon on Gilman Lake near Wells, New York with Texas friends Simon And Autumn.
 Brilliant sunny day today…
The rains have the river running high, beautiful afternoon at the sculpture garden would be perfect for kayaking
Evening photo session with Caroline and Photographer Jim Mclaughlin
First time out kayaking,this spring, ran into a little beaver activity. Haven’t seen the beaver “slap tail” warning in quite a while. Here are two videos - for the second one, wait for the end for the slap. Wishing I had thought to I’ll be curious if anyone finds the “bongo board” reference in the text … NON SEMPER EA SUNT QUAE VIDENTUR, 1991, bronze and granite, 85"h x60"w x27"d (Things are not always what they appear) Non Semper Ea Su Puzzle time!
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old F
"Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old F "Fleche VIII" 2017 fieldstone/bronze/pigmented and sealed steel, 15"h x19"w x 4"d (38 x48 x 10 cm) available flèche Pronunciation: 'flesh, flèche Function: noun Etymology: French, literally, arrow, from Old F

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