May 9 - Rock-fall Ends the Opus Build - But Not the Opus Love!

Posted on May 9, 2021

Key Points

Sculptor Harvey Fite died on this date in 1976.

And that put an end to his decades-long project he named Opus 40. He included the number “40” in the name because he thought it would take him 40 years to complete. Tragically, at the 37-year-mark, while working on the site, Fite fell and died.

So…Opus 40 is not completely 100% complete – but this result on one man’s artistry over 37 years is 100% amazing!

Fite was inspired by his work reconstructing
Mayan sculptures. He particularly admired
their dry-stone construction.

He learned to do dry-stone work and
made his walls with that technique.

Opus 40 is built in a disused bluestone quarry Fite purchased.

Harvey Fite started off adulthood
as an actor in a traveling troupe.
He learned that he adored woodworking,
and he became a sculptor of wood and
stone. He was a professor at Bard
College for 40 years.

And now regular folks like you and me get to visit Opus 40! What you need to know is that it’s located in New York, near Woodstock, and it is run as a non-profit sculpture park.