A small army of imaginative bronze figures by the sculptor Tom Otterness at the entrances of the Hilton Times Square on West 42nd Street and West 41st Street seemed to be a symbol of this place.

They assumed the guise of tourists and police officers and moneybag-wielding plutocrats whose frenetic interactions defied the propriety of the architecture. While one couple danced happily away on the edge of a giant clock face, for instance, others seemed to be laboring below to push the clock off the canopy on which it was poised.

Copyright. The New York Times 

But a few months ago, as the front of the Hilton went under the knife for a makeover, the sculptures were removed. And as the renovation of the hotel nears completion, it has become clear that the Otterness figures are not coming back.

The new Hilton entrances on West 42nd Street and West 41st Street will feature illuminated panels, which necessitated the removal of some 60 or so sculptures by Tom Otterness featuring his signature doughy creatures.

Collectively called “Time and Money” the statues are currently in storage. “We’d love to find a home for it,” said W. Guy Lindsey, senior vice president for design and construction at Sunstone, which intends to donate the work, not sell it.

A couple of catches: the recipient must be a public institution, like a high school, a college or a park department. The recipient will be expected to pay the costs for cleaning, restoring, redesigning and reinstalling the piece; no small thing. But they will get a full set of Otterness sculptures — “Rich Male Pushing Clock” and “Dancing Couple on Moneybag” and “Male Tourist With Suitcases” and “Female Cop With Flashlight” and many more. And a couple of very large clocks.

“I was really flattered to be out there on the scene of 42nd Street for 10 years,” Mr. Otterness said in a brief telephone interview from his Brooklyn studio. “Hopefully, it will find a new home.”

 

galleristny.com, nytimes.com