Notice the outdoor sculptures scattered across the Princeton University campus, together forming the John B. Putnam, Jr. Memorial Collection of Sculpture. This collection honors Princeton alumnus John B. Putnam, Jr., Lieutenant U.S.A., who was killed in action during World War II, and it began when President Robert Goheen announced in March 1968 that an anonymous donor had given a $1 million fund in his memory. The works you can see are by 20th and 21st century sculptors, chosen by a committee of alumni who were current or former directors of art museums.
The first twenty pieces were purchased in 1969 and 1970, and though the collection was first designed to have only twenty sculptures, George Segal’s Abraham and Issac arrived in 1979 and raised the catalogue to twenty-one. In 2025 the anonymous donor was revealed to be John’s brother, Peter Putnam, a fellow Princeton alum who is a physicist, neuropsychologist and philosopher. The Princeton University Art Museum calls the collection “not a static phenomenon” and says “work is underway to identify and purchase or commission works by artists.
Notice the outdoor sculptures distributed across the campus, twenty-one pieces and counting.