Robert Graham, sculptor was 70 *

The Venice sculptor Robert Graham died Saturday at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center after being ill for six months. Born in Mexico City on Aug. 19, 1938, Graham moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s and leaves a legacy of public art and monuments across the city and the country. His public works here include the headless figures and Olympic Gateway outside the Coliseum, the Great Bronze Doors at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and a bronze door at the Music Center, plus pieces at UCLA, USC, Michael's restaurant in Santa Monica and the former 72 Market Street in Venice. Around the country, his best-known pieces are probably the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, the memorial to Joe Louis in Detroit, the monument to Duke Ellington in New York and a memorial to Charlie Parker in Kansas City. From the L.A. Times obituary by Suzanne Muchnic and Cara Mia DiMassa:

An elegant, gentlemanly artist who maintained a large studio in Venice, Graham was enormously productive throughout his career. A fiercely independent perfectionist with high-tech skills and an enduring fascination with the female figure, he explored almost every conceivable position and attitude of the female nude in his personal work, often working in an intimate scale.

But he is best known for large public commissions that pay homage to historical figures or symbolize big ideas in prominent locations.

Graham, who was married in 1992 to actress Anjelica Huston, was inducted into the California Hall of Fame earlier this month. He designed the Doumani home in Venice and the one occupied by he and Huston, as well as the torso displayed in the center of the Windward Circle in Venice.

Robert Graham website and catalog of work by decade

* Statement from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Robert was an amazing sculptor who forever shaped the presence of sculpture art throughout California and the world. His work was truly influential and he will forever remain an icon in this state."

Noted: The LAT obit says the bronze doors at the cathedral are "topped by an angel." Well, close. The Graham statue atop the doors depicts Mary, otherwise known as Our Lady of the Angels.